Chaotic Neutral
by mochafraptor
Summary: AU Titans. What if Gar had never met the Titans, or even The Doom Patrol? What kind of life would he have led, and what kind of person would he be? BBRAE Rated for adult themes and graphic content
1. A Stranger

WARNING: awesome content ahead.

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The knife gleamed in the dark of the alley, catching light from the city. Tears ran down her face as the girl struggled, but the men were too strong. She tried to scream as one try to force her legs open, but it came out muffled behind the rough, grimy hand of the second one behind her. They were laughing as they tore at her clothes. The sadistic bastards, they were enjoying this. The girl cursed her luck, cursed her life, cursed everything. Why had she chosen tonight of all nights to work late? Why had she taken this particular shortcut? Now she… Well, she didn't know what. Would they kill her? She hoped they would. She didn't think she could live with herself after… this… happened to her. The man with the knife slashed her skirt and ripped it off, cackling evilly. The girl continued kicking and screaming in vain, pulling desperately at the hand over her mouth.

"Don't struggle so much, sugar." The man licked his lips as he traced the knife up her thigh. "I'd really hate to have to cut you before I'm done."

"Hey! Don't damage her before I've had my turn." The man holding her complained.

"I know, I know." The man with the knife said noncommittally, trying to undo his pants as he finally wedged himself between her knees.

The girl squeezed her eyes shut, knowing this was it. She wished she could go back and change something, anything.

"Whoa! And here I was trying to figure out what to do tonight!" A voice called jokingly.

The men holding her stopped, and the girl opened her eyes slightly. A man stood at the end of the alley, silhouetted by the city. He had one hand in his pocket, and appeared to be eating a candy bar with the other.

The man brandished his knife, still trying to undo his pants. "Get lost, asshole. This is a private–"

Before the man could finish, the stranger darted forward and punched him, knocking the man back. He stumbled back and clutched at his face, exclaiming painfully.

"What the f–" The man holding her began, but was cut short as the stranger's hand shot forward and _inside_ the man's mouth, gripping his tongue.

"Hold that thought." The stranger said casually as he finished his candy bar.

Just then the man with the knife recovered and charge the stranger. With an almost lazy gesture, the stranger threw the candy wrapper into the man's face, distracting him. He kicked one leg forward into the man's thigh, stopping the man short. At the same time he grabbed the man's knife hand and twisted it away painfully, causing the man to drop the weapon. The stranger brought his knee up into the man's gut, then he brought his elbow down on the man's head. The man collapsed to the ground holding his stomach. The girl watched wide-eyed, the stranger had done all this with one hand still inside the other man's mouth. The stranger glanced at the man holding her.

"Let go of her." He said it cheerfully, like it was a friendly suggestion.

The man holding her growled, and pulled out another knife. The stranger raised eyebrow as the man placed it against her throat. He sighed, and then, without any effort, ripped the man's tongue out. Immediately the man dropped his knife and let go of the girl, a gurgling scream emitting from his throat before collapsing to his knees. The stranger stood there, holding a piece of the man's tongue in his hand as the man writhed at his feet, screaming and spewing blood.

"Well, I've heard of having a loose tongue, but this is…" He joked with a grin.

As soon as she was free the girl had darted across the alley to hide behind the stranger. She was leaned up against the wall, trying to catch her breath and clear her eyes. The stranger turned around, still grinning. His strangely sharp teeth gleamed in the city lights, much like the knife had. He glanced at the chunk of meat still in his hand, and dropped it.

"Sorry about your skirt."

The girl just blinked, not comprehending. The stranger pointed at her legs.

"Your skirt. It looks expensive, sorry it got ripped." He clarified.

His nonchalance after so easily dealing with these two would-be rapists was unsettling. She couldn't take her eyes off of them. He followed her eyes to where she was looking. His eyebrows shot up, like he'd already forgotten they were there.

"Ah, right. We should probably get out of here. Come on, I'll walk you home." He took her by the hand, and led her from the alley.

As they exited the alley the girl got her first good look of the stranger. He was handsome, in a rugged sort of way. His hair was short, unkempt, and spiky. He had thick stubble as well. He wore dark blue jeans, black converse sneakers, and a dark gray Henley shirt. He looked to be around the same age as her, maybe a little bit younger, even though she was only in her late twenties. The other thing about him was that he was _green_ from head to toe. From his hair to his face to the hands, everything was green. And he had pointed ears, like an elf.

He grinned at her, amused. "What, there something on my face?"

The girl looked away hurriedly, ashamed that she'd been staring. This man just saved her life, and she repaid him by making a fool of herself.

"Thank you." She stammered out. "That… I don't know what I would've done."

"It's fine." He returned cheerfully. "Besides, I think I know a way you can repay me."

The girl looked at him with fearful eyes. He noticed, and lifted his hands up nonthreateningly.

"Not like that. Please, if I wanted you in the sack, you'd go there willingly." He said cheekily. "The truth is I'm new in town, and I need a place to stay."

The girl's mouth fell open slightly, disbelieving.

"I know what you're thinking. ' Is this guy for real?' But before you say no, I'm willing to pay for the days that I'm there. Like, with money."

She looked away again. Was this guy really asking to stay with her? He was a complete stranger. And he tore a man's freaking _tongue_ out of his mouth. That was messed up, even if the bastard deserved it. Could she trust him? Well, he did save her life and more besides. Plus she was curious as to who, and what this man was.

"At least for a few days…" She said softly.

"Sorry? What was that?" The stranger leaned in a little closer.

The girl frowned. She got the distinct impression that his hearing was way better than any regular human's. "I said, at least for a few days."

"Great!" The green stranger clapped his hands together. "I feel like this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

"I'm Claire, by the way." The girl said, holding out her hand.

"Gar Logan." He shook her hand firmly, grinning widely. "But everyone seems to call me Feral."

She saw the unmistakably wild glint in his eye. _I wonder why?_

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Okay. Shit. Shit. Looks like I've started another story. I got this idea little while ago, and I think it's why I've kind of had writer's block for my other stories. I've kind of tried to incorporate the basics of this idea in my other stories, but uh, haven't really gotten to a point where it makes sense to do so in them. But I just had to get this idea out before could continue, so here it is. A story of Gar Logan if he never met the Titans or Doom Patrol. I'm expecting it to be pretty dark in some areas. Follow, favorite, read, and review. Also check out my other stories if you haven't already, they're pretty good if I do say so myself.


	2. Meet and Greet

"Two men were found injured last night in an alley, one with half of his tongue torn out." Robin said, addressing the other Titans.

He liked to go over things that happened during the week to keep his finger on the pulse of the city. The constant, obsessive way he monitored everything was borderline neurotic, but it kept him calm. Well, calmer anyway. And honestly, it did help them know what was going on around Jump City, so Raven supposed it was worth the effort. They were all seated around the table in the kitchen just after breakfast, the sun steadily rising over the bay in the nearly cloudless blue sky. Robin placed several photos on the table depicting the crime scene, and the victims.

"Yikes." Cyborg grimaced after taking a look.

"And he's the one that got off lightly. The other guy has a concussion, a broken nose, four broken ribs, and a hemorrhaging liver. If a passerby hadn't contacted paramedics immediately he would've most likely died. As it stands, he's currently out of surgery, and in the ICU."

"Oh, how horrible!" Starfire exclaimed, horrified. "Can we not find out who did this?"

Robin sighed. "Well that's the thing, these guys are known low-level gang members, so this kind of thing happening isn't uncommon. It could've simply been a lynching or rival gangs, in which case we could just leave it to the police. The only reason I bring it up is because they said only one guy did this to them, instead of remaining silent like gangsters usually do when faced with the authorities."

"So two scumbags got what was coming to them. I'm mortified. Next." Raven droned, impatient to leave.

"You know that's not how this works Raven. The city condones our activities because we impose limits on ourselves. For instance, we don't use force excessively or leave injured people out in the streets." Robin tapped a photo meaningfully.

"Forgive me if I'm not overly sympathetic to those who throw in their lot with criminal organizations."

"Regardless, if someone is hurting people, we can't let it stand."

Raven rolled her eyes. "Fine. I agree that we can't let people dispense punishment as they please. So, what are your leads?"

Robin frowned and crossed his arms. "As of right now, I've only got this as a lead." He pulled another photo out of his belt, and slid it across the table toward her. "One of the victims said the attacker used it as a distraction."

Raven looked down at it then back up to Robin. "A candy wrapper?"

Cyborg reached across and plucked the picture off the table. "So all we know about this assailant is that he enjoys chocolate, nougat, and caramel. Nice." He observed, getting a giggle out of Starfire.

"It's pretty useless, you don't have to tell me. I tried to run it for any traces of DNA, but whatever was there baffled the computer. It couldn't give a conclusion." Robin said.

Cyborg looked surprised. "Now that's interesting. You're saying there _was_ DNA, but our machine couldn't read it?"

"That's right."

"What's so interesting about that? It just means that we couldn't match it to anybody in our database." Raven said dismissively. She really just wanted to go back to reading her book.

"No, it would have said that it couldn't provide a match." Cyborg explained. "What Robin is saying is that the DNA couldn't be read as human or animal, and the machine couldn't provide _any_ answers."

"Then might we be dealing with an extraterrestrial like myself?" Starfire asked.

"It's a possibility." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Our machine is sophisticated enough that it can tell the difference between humans, animals, and all the aliens logged with the Justice League though, so it would have to be _pretty_ alien."

A deadly serious expression came over Robin's face. "You're telling me there is an unknown, violent, humanoid alien running around my city tearing people's tongues out?"

"Well, to be fair, it was only the one tongue."

"And, to be fair, the guy probably deserved it." Raven added dryly.

Robin narrowed his eyes at her. "I don't care. That's one tongue too many. I want to make this case our priority when we are not dealing with more immediate threats." He said with a note of finality.

"Aye captain!" Cyborg grinned and gave an exaggerated salute.

Starfire giggled. "I too will make this my first priority, captain boyfriend Robin."

With a roll of her eyes, Raven got up from her seat. "I'll do it if we have nothing else to do, but I'm not calling you captain. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go meditate."

At that moment an alarm started sounding throughout the Tower, alerting the Titans to a disturbance in the city. Raven breathed in deeply, squashing the urge to scream, and turned around to face the screen behind her. Robin, of course, was already up out of his seat and standing right in front of it. After typing furiously Robin turned around quickly and looked at each of them.

"No more time to talk, guys. It's the Hive Five, they've broken into the First National Bank, and are in the process of busting open the vault. Titans, go!" He shouted before sprinting with Cyborg to the garage.

Raven simply sighed, and rubbed her temples as she made her way up to the roof with Starfire. With the way things were going today, she didn't think she'd have a chance to read her books at all.

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Claire had gone to bed the night before hoping against hope that everything that she'd experienced up to that point had been a horrible dream. After pouring herself a shot, or seven, she managed to find something that wasn't necessarily sleep, but was as close as she was gonna get, considering. After waking up in her apartment this morning, she almost convinced herself that it really all had been some twisted nightmare of hers, but then she walked out into her living room in her pajamas to find Gar Logan, also known as Feral, sitting on her couch eating cereal out of a salad bowl as he watched TV. As soon as she stepped up to the threshold of the room he turned to rest his unsettling gaze on her. Claire gulped, her throat dry. Every time she caught his eyes it was like trying to stare down a lion.

Gar smiled and waved cheerily. "Hey Claire! Good morning!" He placed his bowl on the ground, and then vaulted nimbly over the couch before trotting over to stand in front of her. "Did you sleep well?"

"Not exactly…" Claire replied, avoiding his eyes. _Did I really let a complete stranger stay in my apartment overnight?_

"Hmm. Bummer." He spun around, and ran across the room into the kitchen area, sliding on the linoleum with his socks. "So what do you want for breakfast?"

Claire blinked. "Breakfast?"

"Yeah, I figure it's the least I could do for letting me stay the night on faith alone." He grinned affably. "So what'll it be? Pancakes? Waffles? An omelette and bacon?"

Walking over to the island in the center of the area, Claire pulled out a stool and sat down uncertainly. "I guess an omelette sounds good…"

"Awesome! Quick question though, do you have anything that you dislike, or are allergic to?"

"Um, no, not really."

"Perfect! Then this'll just take a sec."

Gar then went about getting pans, and plates, and bowls out. He found her cutting board, and laid that down on the counter too. Next, he opened the fridge, removed four eggs, and placed them gently into one bowl. Then went back to the fridge and started pulling out different ingredients. Claire watched in amazement as he prepared each part. He moved in a whirlwind of activity, from grating cheese and dicing tomatoes and onions, to whisking eggs and even frying thin slices of potato, humming all the while. Even as he was doing all of this he set up a pan on the stove, and started cooking the bacon. This was very obviously not his first rodeo.

Suddenly he added everything together and threw it all into the other pan that he had prepped with butter beforehand. The omelette spread out across the surface, and he gently shook the pan in a counterclockwise motion to even out the egg, adding a little salt and pepper. He used a spatula to quickly maneuver the omelette into a neatly folded shape before it became too cooked, then flipped it once by launching into the air, and catching it in the pan with a flourish. Finally he placed the omelette on a plate and added a few strips of bacon to the side. The end result looked like something out of a magazine. He grabbed a tall glass, and filled it with orange juice, then brought the drink and the plate over to her.

"Voilá! A typical Spanish potato omelette. Sorry, there's usually chives, but I couldn't find any."

"No please! This is perfectly fine!" Claire replied quickly, a little overwhelmed with the performance she just witnessed.

Gar just grinned. "Now, you can add anything you want, but I recommend eating it plain first."

Looking at the meal before her, Claire quickly became ravenous. She picked up a fork, and took a bite. Then another. And another. Before she knew it, she was down to the last bite. There was no way to describe the meal other than perfect. The egg was light, but juicy, the different ingredients spread out evenly without clumping, complementing each other and giving the omelette a hearty flavor. Even the bacon, which she thought he had started cooking as an afterthought, had been fried to perfection, reaching that sweet spot of crunchy, yet unburnt. Claire looked up from the succulent piece of egg on her fork, and found Gar resting on the countertop with his elbows, watching her eat with a knowing grin on his face.

"Aaaand?" He asked, leaning forward a little.

Claire put the last piece in her mouth and set the fork down, leaning back and sighing contentedly. "That was quite literally the best omelette I've ever had."

"Yes!" Gar balled up a paper towel and launched it across the room into the trash can. "He shoots, he scores!"

"Where on earth did you learn to cook like that?" Claire asked, curious.

Gar gathered the dishes and brought them over to the sink. "I once saved a guy from being run over by a truck. It was totally by accident, but the guy was so grateful and wanted to repay me anyway. As it turned out he was a famous chef or something, and I spent a month or so learning from him."

"I'm not the first person you've saved from a life or death situation?"

"Nope." He answered as he began washing up, his back turned to her.

"So then, are you a superhero?" Claire wouldn't be surprised, though she would be a little starstruck.

"That's also a no."

Claire blinked, now completely lost. "Wait, so then what? You just have a habit of saving people?"

He laughed. "I wouldn't exactly call it a _habit_. But yes, it has happened before."

"How do you 'accidentally' save people?"

"I dunno, it just happens. It's not like I'm trying to." He replied with a shrug.

"It just happens? Stuff like that doesn't _just_ happen. What about last night?"

"I was around, those guys were bugging you, I thought it'd be fun to stop them."

Claire was incredulous. "You thought it'd be _fun?_ "

"Yeah. And it was."

As Claire processed this Gar finished the dishes, then came to sit across from her. Was he saying that, if he had felt like it, he would have left her to her fate? That he had just saved her on a whim? That was unsettling. She was now _really_ having second thoughts about this guy.

"Okay!" Gar exclaimed, turning around, and drying his hands on a washcloth. "Get dressed, we are going out!"

"What?" Claire blinked rapidly several times. "Wait, what?"

"Like I said last night, I'm new in town, and I need someone to show me around. And guess who's the only person I know around here." Gar smiled cheekily.

She shook her head quickly. "I can't show you around, I have to go to work."

"Work? You can't work, it's Saturday!" He said, incredulous.

"No, it's Tuesday."

"What? No way, it's Saturday!"

Claire took her phone out of her pajama pocket, and showed him the screen. "No, actually, it's Tuesday." Then, turning the screen towards herself, her eyes widened as she saw the time. "And I'm running late!"

"Dang. Guess you'll have to try again tomorrow. Might as well just show me around town now."

She looked at him seriously for a moment. Truthfully, she didn't want to go to work. She'd just spend the time going over everything that happened, torturing herself. But she was afraid of being alone, and would've gone to her job just to be around her coworkers. Gar was offering her another option, and she really didn't need much convincing in the first place. Plus, even though she was a little uncertain about him, he was an interesting sort of fellow.

"Fine." Claire said, relenting.

Gar looked surprised. "Really?"

"Really."

Gar pumped his fist. "Yes! Now, you go get dressed, I'm gonna get a comb through my hair, and then we'll be off!" He said cheerfully as he ushered her towards her room.

"Do you even know where you want to go first?" Claire asked, a little flustered.

He grinned broadly. "Not a clue. But I have great instincts, and you know the city, so I'm sure we'll have fun."

Claire just scrunched her brow, worried. This man seemed to live his life pretty haphazardly.

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Gar was having a pretty good time. They went to the park, visited the fair, and went down to the boardwalk. Sure, the thing with Claire being almost violated last night, and now having to deal with the emotional fallout was kind of bumming him out, but that was to be expected. He hoped showing him around the city would take her mind off of things, at least for a little while. Gar shook his head suddenly, ignoring the strange look Claire gave him. After walking around for a while Gar had said that he was hungry, and now they were sitting at a booth in a local diner, the window to his right giving a view of the street outside. They'd already eaten their food, and now sat idly sipping coffee as Claire told him about Jump City. Gar always loved coming to new places. He got to see new sites, meet new people, and eat the local food, and there was always something new, and exciting right around the corner. He couldn't wait to see what Jump had to offer. From what he'd heard, this place was pretty crazy.

Smiling as he listened, Gar took some time to actually _look_ Claire. He had a bad habit of ignoring things like that, because frankly, he could just smell the difference between everyone anyway. Yeah, he had problems with some of the basic stuff. _Remember her face like a good human being, Gar._ Though really, it did make sense that he struggled with certain things, since he spent about the same amount of time as an animal as he did human. More, probably. Incidentally, Claire smelled like vanilla, and almonds.

Claire was a cute little thing, with long, wavy, nut brown hair that she let down past her shoulders. She had big brown eyes, an adorable button nose, and small, full lips. Her skin was pale, not overly so, but she definitely could use some sun, and she had light freckles over the bridge of her nose. Height wise, she was maybe four and a half feet tall, give or take a few inches. Gar himself was five feet, and nine inches, so he had a bit of height on her. She'd dressed for the brisk autumn air, wearing a gray striped dress, black stockings, black boots, a tan jacket, and a maroon scarf, which was good since she was tiny, with a very slender hourglass figure. He doubted she had even one ounce of fat to protect against the chill.

All in all, she was very pixie-like, and Gar found it charming. Not exactly his type, per se, but definitely attractive. If the circumstances allowed, he might take her to bed, though with all that had happened to her recently, he didn't really see that happening anytime soon. Which was totally fine, he didn't necessarily _need_ to do anything with her. They could just be friends. He'd like that.

Being pretty sure that he had memorized her face, and more importantly, her smell, Gar decided to take some initiative in the conversation.

"So who are these Titan guys? They seem like a fun bunch of dudes." Gar asked casually as he stirred more sugar into his coffee.

"A fun bunch of dudes?" Claire repeated with an astonished expression, mug in her hand stopped halfway between the table, and her mouth. "You do realize the Titans are the most famous group of heroes on the West Coast, right?"

Gar just gave a shrug, an innocent look of ignorance on his face. "I do _now_."

"Seriously? They defeated the Brotherhood of Evil? Brother Blood? _Deathstroke?_ " She was looking at him like he had suddenly grown two extra heads.

He raised his eyebrows, bewildered. "Are these actually the names of things?"

Claire placed her drink on the table, and leaned back in her seat, astounded. " _Wow._ Have you _literally_ been living under a rock?"

A sheepish grin spread across Gar's face. "Well, not _recently_ …" He half joked. "I don't exactly keep up with the news."

"Boy, do you have a lot to catch up on. Here." Claire dug into her jacket pocket, and brought out her phone. She fiddled with it for second, and then placed it on the table between them so Gar could see a picture of the Titans on the screen. The heroes seemed to be standing in some sort of press conference, one of them standing at the podium having just given, or getting prepared to give, a speech. Gar pointed to the one he assumed to be the alpha.

"Who's this guy?" He asked.

"That's Robin, leader of the Titans, and every Jump girl's unrequited crush. At one time he apprenticed the Batman, and is a master in several martial arts, and a skilled detective."

Gar tilted his head quizzically, scrutinizing the image. "Why is his head so spiky?"

Claire blinked, obviously not expecting the question, but then laughed. "He styles it like that. It's catching on as a fad."

"Huh. And the girl next to him? She looks a little… off."

"That would be Starfire, Robin's girlfriend, and therefore the envy of every girl in the city. She's an alien Princess, that's why she looks a little different, plus she is ridiculously strong, has the ability to fly, and hurl a type of green energy bolt. And she can also shoot lasers from her eyes." Claire explained excitedly.

Gar let out a low whistle. "Now _that's_ a cool power! Eye lasers are freaking awesome."

"I know, right?" Claire agreed energetically, brushing a lock of hair back behind her ear. "The guy next to her is Cyborg, the oldest of the Titans. He's a technological genius, and a veritable arsenal of high-tech weapons and gadgets. He maintains the tower they all live in, and all their vehicles too. I don't know the exact story, but he was in an accident at some point, that's why he's got all those cybernetic enhancements."

"And this guy?" Gar asked, zooming the picture on the hooded person at the very edge of the photo.

"Girl." Claire corrected, and Gar raised a curious eyebrow. "Raven. The most mysterious, and reclusive of the Titans. Easily the most powerful among them, not to mention the scariest. She uses some sort of dark magic that allows her to do all sorts of crazy things."

"What kinds of things?"

"Flying, for one. Telekinesis for another. She can also teleport, and use telepathy. The extent of her powers is really unknown."

"Neat." Gar leaned forward on the table with his elbows, smiling. "I take it you're kind of a fan?"

A light blush spread across Claire's cheeks. "Well, I kind of have to be."

"Oh? Why is that?"

She straightened up in her seat proudly. "I work for the city in The Department of Supernatural Incidents and Affairs, managing the resources they use. So I pretty much know about everything that they do."

"Impressive." Gar replied without much inflection.

"It _is_ impressive." Claire said defensively.

"That's what I said."

She narrowed her eyes at him before continuing. "Anyways, they're the four original Titans, and they protect the city from criminals, and villains. They've seen us through some of our most disastrous events, and darkest times. Everyone in Jump is incredibly thankful to them for all that they have done."

Gar just hummed in response, studying the picture intently. They were all roughly around the same age as him, and obviously quite different from normal people. He wondered what it must be like to live among similar people to yourself. At one point he had almost had a taste of that, but as with most things in his life, it hadn't quite fit right, and he decided to move on. _These guys seem cool though_.

"Have you ever met them?" He asked after a minute.

"Once, very briefly, at a gala the Mayor was hosting. I doubt they remember me." Claire said with a note of depression.

"Well, could you meet them again?"

Her eyes widened. "What? No! No way." She shook her head vigorously.

"Oh, come on! You promised you would show me the sights, and what's bigger in Jump City than the legendary Titans!"

"I didn't promise you squat, Buster, you _made_ me come out here. And you didn't even know what the Titans looked like! Legendary my foot!"

"Pleeease?" Gar asked, stretching the word out childishly.

"Stop that!" Claire looked around, embarrassed. Like everyone wasn't already staring at the green guy. "Even if I wanted to, there's miles of paperwork and red tape to go through, _and_ I'd need a legitimate event or gathering to invite them to! And there are none to speak of coming up!" She admonished in a stage whisper.

Gar crossed his arms and pouted for a bit, but then his ear twitched as he heard something. He cocked his head to the side, and closed his eyes, listening. _It sounds a lot like a–_

 _"Breaking news!"_ A nearby TV proclaimed as someone turned up the volume. Gar's eyes snapped open, and he turned his attention to the screen as it showed a Birdseye view of a smashed in building front. _"Mayhem at the First National Bank as the notorious Hive Five attempt another daring daylight heist. Citizens are being warned to evacuate and avoid the area as the Titans engage."_

"Oh my God!" Claire gasped. "That's only a few blocks from here!"

A grin was already spreading across Gar's face. Here he was, just thinking he'd like to meet these Titans, and they show up only a few blocks away. Gar didn't necessarily believe in luck, but when things just kind of work out in the perfect way, it did make him wonder. He glanced at Claire across the table as she gathered her things hurriedly.

"Come on, we have to go!" She said worriedly.

"Absolutely. One hundred percent. Yes." He said as he rose from his seat. Everyone else in the diner seemed to have the same idea as well, and were streaming towards the door. They joined the crowd, and made it outside quickly, but instead of following the crowd Gar started walking in the other direction.

Claire grabbed his arm, pulling him up short. "Where are you going? That's where the fight is!"

"I know, I just want to see what the fuss is." He explained, still grinning.

She looked at him like he was completely daft. "What? No! We have to leave!"

"And miss all the fun? Are you kidding?"

" _Fun?_ " She repeated incredulously.

"You go on ahead, and I'll meet back up with you at your apartment. I'm just gonna go say hi." Gar said quickly, and then turned into a hawk, escaping her grip, and flying off.

As he ascended, he realized that he never told her that he could do that. He laughed mentally at the thought of her reaction when he saw her again.

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After several minutes of wandering, Gar found the destroyed entrance to the bank, and landed softly in the rubble as his human form. Walking up the broken stairs slowly, he could hear grunts, and shouts of effort, and explosions. Through the clouds of dust, and smoke he could see flashes of blue, green, yellow, and red. Gar grinned widely. _Well this seems awfully exciting._ Squaring up his shoulders, Gar walked into the room.

On his left were the Titans, shooting beams, hurling explosives, and launching tables and chairs. On his right were, he assumed, the Hive Five, doing much the same. He paused and studied the apparently notorious group. The most immediately noticeable of the bunch was the towering giant with red hair and mutton chops. He looked like he could barely string three syllables together before he had to smash something. Next was the pubescent Asian kid with the shaved head. He had four spiderlike metal legs extending from a pack on his back that held him off the ground. There was a dude, or rather dudes, dressed in red full-body suits and masks. Another guy with a helmet that covered most of his face, and gave him one eye. And lastly, there was one guy in a cloak teleporting all over the place. An interesting group of people.

"Hi!" Gar announced loudly, placing his hands on his hips. No one seemed to notice. Frowning a little bit, Gar stepped further into the middle of the room.

Finally, the cyclops paused for a moment to look at him. "Who the hell is this guy?"

"Doesn't matter, waste him!" The Asian kid said without looking, sending a volley of missiles at the Titan named Cyborg.

With a shrug, the guy turned the dial on the side of his helmet, and fired a laser at Gar. Gar's eyebrows shot up, and then he jumped behind a nearby pillar to avoid the beam. _No introductions? These guys have no class at all._ He shifted into a dragonfly, and went high, weaving through the air to land on top of the cyclops' helmet. Shifting back into a human, Gar dropped on top of him with his elbow as they both collapsed to the ground. Stunned, the one-eyed man could do nothing as Gar reached over, and smashed the ocular device.

The following scream caused everyone to pause. They all looked towards Gar as he got up, dusting himself off, and saw the other guy clutching at his face, screaming bloody Mary. He was really making a big deal out of it. Gar looked up from patting himself down, and noticed them all staring at him.

Gar scratched the back of his head, not sure what to say. "Whoops?"

With a roar, the giant charged towards him, and Gar had to dive out of the way. This wasn't exactly what he had in mind when he came here, but Gar was nothing if not adaptable. Before he could pick himself up off the ground though, something massive backhanded him into another pillar, which he bounced off of, and hit the floor. Gar sat up, and cracked his neck experimentally before popping back up to his feet, no worse for wear. Okay, if these guys wanted to play rough, then Gar would play rough. He spotted the hairy bastard stomping towards him, and Gar rolled up his sleeves, rushing to meet him head-on with a grin, their hands crashing together in a classic power struggle stance.

Gar's arms shifted rapidly as he gauged the man's strength. They grew three times thicker, and long shaggy fur started sprouting up their length, before it turned into quills, which soon changed into feathers. The feathers gave way to thick rough skin that transformed into iron hard scales. With each change Gar could feel himself matching, and over-matching his opponent's strength, and couldn't help but start laughing. He began to smell the confusion, and rising panic emanating off his opponent as he started to push back. Suddenly, Gar shifted into a finch, causing the man to stumble forward several steps. Gar shifted back behind him, kicking both feet out into the back of the giant's head. The giant fell to one knee, and grasped the back of his head before turning a baleful glare at Gar, growling. Gar burst out laughing again. Was _that_ supposed to be intimidating?

Still shaking silently with mirth, he absorbed the next blow with his arms, and was lifted off the ground by the force of it. Flipping in midair, he rebounded off of the wall, and leapt back as a tiger. He collided with his adversary, and left several deep gouges in his chest before jumping away again. The giant yelled in pain and fury, bleeding heavily from the wounds on his torso. Before Gar could attack again, a sudden volley of missiles caused him to have to leap away.

"Eat this, snothead!" The Asian kid yelled, flying at Gar on a jet pack.

 _Snothead?_

Another trio of missiles forced Gar behind cover again. Crouching, he looked around, and noticed that the Titans had reengaged, and now there was a full-scale battle happening in the bank lobby. These Hive guys must be under the impression that Gar was some sort of reinforcement for the Titans. Which wasn't the case, but Gar was always down for a good brawl. Someone landed next to him, and he recognized Robin of the Titans.

"Who the hell are you?" The hero growled at him, at the same time leveling one of his eskrima batons.

Gar grinned. "I'm Feral. Pleasure to meet you." He greeted amicably, taking the end of the weapon, and shaking it cordially.

Robin gave him a very serious, but also confused look before telling him to stay put and jumping back into the fray. Gar wasn't going to stay put. Not when such an epic showdown was happening right before him. He vaulted over his cover, and came face-to-face with three of the guys wearing red suits. Gar's fist shot out, and he felt a satisfying crunch as he broke one of their noses. The remaining two retaliated quickly, diving to tackle him to the ground, but Gar danced out of the way of their attacks. He turned into a bear, bellyflopped on top of them, and then stood up again. Immediately he was beset by five more, latching onto his arms, back, and chest. He swiped at them with his claws, knocking two off before falling backwards onto the third. Gar transformed into a gorilla, swinging his arms together to get rid of the last two, and then changed back as he stood up. He tilted his head to the side curiously, looking down at his opponents. Something was off about these guys. Bending down over their unconscious forms, Gar inhaled deeply through his nose, and then the realization hit him. _They all smell exactly the same!_

The men in red suits were actually one man, the guy was a splitter! So all Gar had to do was find the original, which wasn't impossible. Just kinda hard, since the original only smelled a little bit more like himself than his copies. But before Gar could set out trying find the original, someone stepped out of the shadows, slashing at him with razor-sharp claws. It was the teleporter, the guy with the cloak, and weird shaped head. Gar backpedaled, narrowly dodging each of the creature's attacks until he tripped over an overturned desk, and fell backwards. As his adversary descended on him, Gar looked around quickly, and found a spilled coffee mug. Snatching it up, he swung in a wide arc, his impromptu weapon meeting his attacker's face, and shattering. The cloaked man reeled back from his attack, hissing and clutching at his face. He threw Gar a venomous look before stepping into a shadow, and disappearing. Gar pushed himself off the ground, and brushed himself off again. He noticed his most recent opponent's blood on his knuckles, and licked it thoughtfully, spitting it out after a few seconds. Definitely not human.

Taking a minute to breathe, he observed the battlefield. The Titan named Cyborg was blasting away with an arm cannon, and his own missiles. Robin was being surprisingly acrobatic, attacking with his batons, and using thrown weapons. His girlfriend, Starfire, was zipping around overhead, hurling green bolts at the midget. Lastly, Raven, the mysterious one, was muttering under her breath, and throwing things with some sort of black aura. _What an interesting group of people_. Gar righted a fallen chair, and sat down, waiting for the fight to be over. With the cyclops guy down for the count, and the shadowjumper nowhere to be seen, the odds were suddenly in the Titans' favor.

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Raven landed softly on the ground, and walked towards the other Titans. They were all gathered together after apprehending the Hive Five. As she walked she glanced at the green newcomer, who was sitting in an office chair, grinning, and staring right back at her. Raven blinked, then turned her attention towards her leader.

"So who's this green guy?" Cyborg whispered towards Robin. "I saw him going toe to toe with Mammoth."

Starfire jumped up and down, clapping her hands excitedly. "Oh yes! I wish to meet this new friend quickly!"

"I'm not sure he's a friend, Star." Robin said warily. "He introduced himself as Feral."

"Of course he is our friend!" Starfire admonished. "He has helped us defeat the wicked Hive Five!"

"We don't know anything about him! For all we know, he could be an agent of Slade!"

"He's a changeling." Raven said, and everyone looked at her. "I saw him changing into different animals."

"Cool." Cyborg commented.

"Then who's to say that's even what he really looks like? We can't trust him!" Robin exclaimed.

Cyborg shook his head. "It's not like we're going to ask him to come live with us. We just want to meet him."

The conversation soon turned into an argument, and Raven closed her eyes, sighing heavily. When she opened them, she turned to look at the stranger, only to find the seat he had been occupying was now empty. She blinked again, then turned back to her team.

"Guys," She said. "He's gone."

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Aha! Another chapter in this story, and it's a big one. I just want to flesh out this Gar Logan a bit more. I don't think this story is going to be as dark as I had originally thought, though it will be kind of serious. I like the character that I'm building here, I think going to have a lot of fun writing more about him. He's a bit more free-spirited than my previous interpretations of him. Anyway, let me know what you guys think. Read review follow favorite blah blah blah.

– Mocha


	3. A new Challenger

Should I be doing a mailbag? Because it feels like I should be doing a mailbag… Fuck it, I'm doing a mailbag.

Starting from the most recent…

– Thanks! I think it's safe to say that things are pretty different in this alternate universe. Though I probably won't go into specifics, all of the Titans, Gar included, are older versions of themselves so they would be veteran superheroes at this point. I do have sort of a plan for Terra, I actually totally forgot about Blackfire, but now I'm trying to figure out a way to incorporate her, and as for Trigon… I'm not sure yet? We'll see, I'm planning on actually making this story pretty long.

Iluvfriedchicken – Glad to hear you think this is good! See reply above about Terra and Blackfire.

Guest – Was this quick enough for you? Anyway, super cool that you're enjoying this. I tried to get Gar and Raven to interact a little in this chapter, but they have yet to have a _real_ conversation yet. I think this _will_ be dark, but I don't think it will be angsty, feel me? You should check out my other story, If I Wasn't Broken. As for Claire, I don't think you have to be worried about her. Guys and girls can be platonic friends, right? Probably… Though I do like the idea of a jealous Raven, ha ha!

Myasshurts – Me too. Blackfire is your favorite? Strange. Like I said above, I'm trying to think of a way to include her.

Mind  – That is incredibly awesome to hear! Seriously, you made my week. I just hope I don't disappoint your expectations.

TheForceIsStrongwithThisOne – Indeed he is, and indeed he has, though I wouldn't say that he's a bad boy. More like… A wildcard? Anyway, much respect for the veteran fic writer.

Foamsatmouth – IDGAF? Thanks for your review, support me on ! (JK, this isn't worth actual money)

And now, your regularly scheduled garbage…

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Gar watched the cloaked one, Raven, land quietly, and walk casually across the broken lobby towards the other Titans. The smoke and dust had settled after the fighting had stopped, and light streamed down from the broken skylight, giving the scene a beautifully surreal feeling. He had yet to see her face, but as they were wrapping up their fight he _had_ seen her pummel the giant into the ground with a piece of a marble column, which had been seriously badass, and wildly entertaining. She slowed down for a second to look at him, and he grinned back at her. His gaze followed her as she joined the others, and he could hear them beginning to discuss who "the green guy" was. He sighed. Seriously, he was sitting right here, they could just ask. _Oh well_. Getting up from his seat, Gar idly wandered off. He had to find something to do while they decided whether or not they wanted to meet.

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"Guys," She said. "He's gone."

Immediately the Titans flew into action. Whoever, _whatever_ , this guy was, they knew he was an uncertain element in their city, and they had to make sure he wasn't a threat before they could let him go. They spread out in all four directions, preparing to give chase in earnest. Unexpectedly, they found him quite quickly, crouched behind the teller's counter. He had emptied out a backpack that someone had dropped, and was in the act of leisurely filling it with the bricks of cash that had been scattered about during the fight.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Cyborg yelled.

Robin pointed dramatically at the green man. "See!? I told you! He was probably working for the Hive Five all along!"

"Feral" looked up from his activity with a surprised expression. He looked back down at the bag, and then back up to them before something seemed to click behind his eyes.

"Oh, this isn't for _me_." He said with a laugh, like they were making a silly mistake. "I told someone that I'd pay them for letting me stay at their place while I was in town."

"It wouldn't matter if your mother was in the hospital, and you needed the money to pay the bills. No one steals in my town." Robin growled, narrowing his eyes.

Raven glanced at him, and an imperceptible frown formed on her lips. _Nice, Robin._

Feral's eyebrows shot up, and he slung the backpack over his shoulder. "That's a little harsh, don't you think? What if my mom was, like, really nice?"

"Titans, go!" Robin yelled, rushing forward with Cyborg right behind him, and Starfire up above.

While everyone else charged, Raven hung back, ready to block his escape with her magic. From her position she watched as Feral literally _cartwheeled_ out of the way of several projectiles from Robin, laughing. Her eyebrows scrunched together thoughtfully, there was something off about him, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Feral kicked a chair at Cyborg, who smashed it out of the air before aiming his sonic cannon. Before he could fire, Feral was inside his guard, pushing the cannon up into the air. There was a loud _boom_ as it discharged, and then Cyborg was left by himself as a shower of debris rained down on him. Raven found him again as Robin caught up with the green man, and they exchanged rapidfire blows. The Titans' leader was clearly more disciplined, and trained in various martial arts, as opposed to his opponent, who was throwing kicks and punches wildly. Yet for every five hits that Robin blocked or dodged, at least one would slip through, and they were clearly affecting him, while the opposite was true for Feral. Most of Robin's attacks were landing, and yet Feral barely flinched with each one that connected.

Suddenly Robin slipped around, and caught him in a chokehold, applying pressure to his adversary's throat. But just as quickly, the situation was reversed, and the Boy Wonder found himself entangled in the coils of a massive Anaconda. Robin dropped to his knees as the snake increased the pressure around his rib cage, struggling to breathe, but then a trio of star bolts connected with the reptile's scales, causing Feral to revert back and jump away as Starfire swooped in from above.

"You will not hurt my boyfriend!" She yelled, tossing more star bolts after him.

Feral simply pointed at the recovering Robin. "Well, he started it!" He told her before yelping, and rolling away as Starfire pressed her attack.

His comment made Raven tilt her head to the side, even more curious. There was definitely something very strange about him. Somehow he had managed to latch on to Starfire as she flew around, becoming a tiny monkey, and pulling at her hair as he cackled mischievously. They crashed through several walls and objects before she managed to catch him, and throw him off. Feral landed on his feet as a human, sliding back several meters to slam against the teller's counter. He straightened up from his slightly hunched over position, rotating his arm at the shoulder experimentally, and there was a muted _pop_ as the joint slid back into its socket. The assembled heroes collectively grimaced. As the other Titans lined up in front of Raven, who stood in front of the destroyed exit, Feral looked at each one of them with a playful grin.

"Is this what your every day looks like? You guys must have a lot of fun." He said, and Raven was surprised to find no hint of sarcasm, or hostility.

"Have fun with this!" Robin yelled, throwing two birdarangs in quick succession.

Feral jumped forward and snatched one out of the air, deflecting the other with it. Then he held one of its sharp wings against his chest, and stumbled around melodramatically before finally collapsing against the counter behind him.

"Argh! You got me!" He exclaimed theatrically.

In the ensuing silence, a quiet snort of suppressed mirth could be heard. Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg whipped around to stare at Raven with absolute shock. Raven, for her part, had suddenly found the wall to her immediate right incredibly interesting, a light blush coloring her cheeks, and one hand covering her mouth. _What the hell?_ She glanced to her left, and found Feral looking at her with a big smile. Blushing even more, she pulled her hood down further. After a brief moment of awkward silence, the other Titans pressed their attack again. They tried surrounding him, and attacking from all sides, but the green man was unpredictable in his attacks, and erratic in his movements, often switching through several forms in a single moment. The randomness of his actions made it nearly impossible to form a feasible plan of attack, and the Titans were left without a proper strategy. Even Raven couldn't properly pinpoint him in order to grab him with her powers.

Cyborg tackled Feral, pushing him away from the others and back towards the far end of the bank. Feral had taken on the form of a giant gorilla, but was visibly struggling with the cybernetic man's technological enhancements. Then he disappeared, leaving Cyborg blinking in confusion. He reappeared inside Cyborg's guard again, his fist connecting with the metal man's jaw in an exaggerated leaping uppercut. Cyborg's head snapped back, and he stood ramrod straight, his human eye rolling back into his skull. He teetered for a moment on his heels before falling silently backwards, and hitting the ground with a heavy _thud_.

"And down goes Goliath! Ladies and gentlemen, the upset of the century!" Feral exclaimed in a commentator's voice, arrogantly strutting around Cyborg's unconscious form like a pro wrestler. "Can anyone stop The Green Beast? Or will the verdant veteran be victorious in the end?"

Anything else he might've said was cut short by an alien warcry emanating from Starfire as she streaked towards him. As Starfire engaged, Raven rushed to Cyborg's side. A quick once over revealed that he was merely unconscious, but would be down probably for the remainder of the fight.

"Will he be all right?" Robin asked from behind.

"He'll be fine." Raven stood and turned around. Robin was cradling one hand loosely against his torso. "Are you okay?"

"I think it's sprained. The guy is practically made out of marble." Robin said, his eyes on the fight. "We need to get back in there."

"She can handle herself. Let me see that."

As she healed the minor wound, Starfire slammed into the ground off to their left, a green octopus attached to her face. The alien princess struggled for a minute before finally managing to tear it free, and hurl it across the room, though she had ink all over her face. Feral transformed back, landing acrobatically in a handstand, and setting his feet to the ground.

"You are a clorbag!" Starfire screamed blindly from her position on the floor.

Feral laughed. "Well I don't know what that is, or what the prerequisites are, so I guess it takes one to know one."

Starfire screamed again as Robin rushed to her side. The emerald stranger grinned, and Raven was finally close enough see him completely. He wore a dark purple and gray plaid button-down, with a black V-neck underneath. His jeans were dark gray, and he wore black Converse sneakers. On his hands were black fingerless gloves, made from cotton, and his nails were strangely clawlike. His teeth were sharp, top and bottom, and not just his canines, but the teeth on either side, plus his molars. Pointed green ears perked, and twitched with every sound that was made. Physically, he wasn't as tall as either Robin or Cyborg, nor was he as plainly muscular as their leader, but something about the way he carried himself elicited a strange feeling in Raven that she wasn't all too familiar with. His sparkling green eyes had slit pupils, like a great cat, and the way he moved was lithe, and predatory. Raven didn't realize she was staring until his gaze locked on hers. And then he was suddenly very close, yanking her hood off, and leaning close to her neck, inhaling deeply. Raven was hit with a feeling of lustful desire so intense that her breath hitched in her throat, and she stood frozen. The emotion was a lightning strike to her spine, making all her hair stand on end. Her thoughts managed to realign themselves as he leaned back.

" _Interesting_." He said, his voice a low rumble that sent shivers through her body.

Raven grabbed him with her powers, and threw him back. He landed heavily among some desks, smashing one in half. It was quiet for a moment before he stood up again, chuckling to himself as he brushed splinters off of his clothes.

"You know, not that I'm complaining, but you guys might actually get me if you took off the kid gloves. I can't sense any bloodlust from you at all." He said nonchalantly.

"As heroes, it's against our code to seriously wound our opponents, no matter how much we want to." Raven seethed back.

Feral had a bemused look of confusion on his face. "Really? That's dumb, then they can just get right back up again. You don't win."

 _Tell me about it._ Even though she had greater control over herself, Raven still struggled with her demonic side, and its ruthless take on the hero business. It was actually a source of conflict between her and Robin. She knew that she couldn't just go around murdering people who annoyed her, otherwise she'd be no better than the ones she fought, or her father. And there'd be a lot less people around. But she didn't exactly see why she couldn't give the villains a very solid reason _not_ to try their shit again.

"What about you?" Raven countered. "You clearly have the ability to do some serious damage, so why are you toying with us?"

He tilted his head to the side in an oddly canine fashion. "Isn't it because you guys wanted to play?"

Raven had to hold herself back from snapping her fingers as the epiphany struck her. She realized what was so weird about him. What had been throwing her since the moment he walked through the door. She couldn't sense greed, malice, anger, or really _any_ dark emotions from him. What she could sense from him was curiosity, eagerness, playfulness, happiness, a little confusion, and lust, the last one steadily increasing as they surveyed each other. Raven opened and closed her mouth several times before quickly tugging her hood back up, and staying silent. Robin, however, stood up abruptly from helping Starfire, and spun around in anger.

"Play? _You thought we were playing!?_ " He was absolutely livid, and started stomping towards Feral.

"We weren't?" The green man looked nonplussed, and reached one hand up to rub the back of his head.

"Of course not!" Robin yelled. "We've been trying to arrest you because you're _stealing from the bank! Because of that bag on your shoulder!_ "

Feral glanced at the bag in question, and his eyebrows shot up like he'd forgotten about it. Raven saw this, and felt the corner of her mouth curve upward ever so slightly. "Are you sure?" He asked.

"Am I sure?! Of course I'm sure! I said that from the beginning!" Robin cast his furious gaze at Raven for support. "Didn't I say that?!"

"Yes! You did do the saying of that!" Starfire yelled, still trying to get the ink out of her eyes.

"Well, shit, I stand corrected." Feral said with an apologetic grin, holding up his hands in a placating gesture. "But now I'm in a bit of an awkward situation. While I don't want to piss you guys off too much, I really do need to pay someone with this money."

He looked up towards the ceiling, and rubbed his chin pensively as he considered the situation. Halfway in between Raven and Feral, Robin stood with his mouth slightly open in a, there was no other word for it, flabbergasted expression. The dark sorceress was having a hard time preventing another outburst of laughter. The interaction between her leader, and the stranger was an absolute farce, one Robin seemed to be on the losing end of. They always had a bit of banter with their various villains, but never was it this amusing. This wasn't crass or boorish like with Control Freak, snarky, sardonic, or weirdly sexual like with Red X, or ominous and foreboding like with Slade. It was fresh, it was innocent, it was… _fun._ Feral was just having _fun_. She knew she should be assisting in some way, but Raven was, dare she say, rather enjoying herself at the Boy Wonder's expense.

"Well, I can't break the promise." Raven's eyes were drawn back to the shape shifter as he spoke. "And I don't particularly fancy the idea of going to jail. So I guess that leaves us exactly where we were. Unless you guys want to call it quits?"

That seemed to snap Robin out of his stupor. " _Never_." He growled, brandishing his weapons.

"Okay, cool." The changeling replied before dropping into a lower stance, another grin spreading across his face.

Yet again, Raven found herself amused at the pure honesty of this stranger's reply. He really just didn't care one way or the other. Steeling herself, Raven prepared to join the fight. If she wanted to learn more about this guy they would have to capture him, and she did want to because Feral was the single most intriguing opponent that they had ever come across.

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Well there you have it, another chapter out as quick as I could manage without sacrificing quality. And a little bonus mailbag too. Raven obviously finds Gar interesting, and Gar at least likes… her smell… LOL obviously BBRAE 4lyfe. Let me know what you think. Follow favorite. Or don't, you think I give a fuck?


	4. Reparations

It's a Motherfucking Mailbag, bitches!

Allen Blaster – Glad to have you along for the ride!

Guest – I aspire to create original content, and am constantly seek new ways of approaching characters and stories, so hearing that it's paying off for at least one person is great!

Guest – no worries, I'm actually pretty motivated to continue writing this story and really all my stories! Dedication and consistently writing are pretty key, and it's actually something I struggle with a little. I'm not entirely sure how long I want to make this but something like 30 chapters? But that means I need to have a storyboard, and actually plan stuff out which just sounds tiring. Obviously Terra is going to be a source of jealousy, but I'm still on the fence about Claire. I'm glad my humble story could make up for your spilled coffee, and shitty day! Seriously that's amazing to hear, thanks for your wonderful feedback.

Foamsatmouth – here's another chapter already! Yeah I'm really enjoying writing about him, he's just a really entertaining character.

ForThereWillComeSoftRains – Yo this review be straight up bomb. Thanks for your fucking kind words.

Cerronous – uuh, better not read my other story then. It's super angsty and depressing. LOL. Yeah I'm trying to have a lot of fun with these guys this time around, and I think it's working out pretty well so far.

JP-Ryder – that's good.

Detrametal – I'm glad you thought this was funny! That's what I was aiming for, so, mission accomplished!

TheForceIsStrongwithThisOne – he isn't! At least not the typical leather jacket, cigarette smoking type anyway… And shut up, no one knows that yet! Obviously the fallout is going to be hilarious.

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" _What the hell did you do?!_ "

Gar regarded the tiny woman before him, a quizzical tilt to his head. Much like his inability to mentally retain a person's features after initially meeting them, he sometimes was unable to grasp why people did certain things or acted certain ways. For instance, politics. People were always arguing about who should be their leader, and were never happy in the end anyway. Politicians were always being accused of being corrupt or incompetent, so it confused Gar that they were even being considered for the job in the first place. That's why Gar chose not to follow anyone.

Or clothing. Gar disliked clothing. It got in the way, and people had altogether too much of it laying around. If they _had_ to have clothes, just one set for each season would do. But he had tried going without clothes, which resulted in people trying to arrest him, and only wearing one set of clothing made people avoid him. So with no alternatives, he had taken to wearing the blasted things like everyone else. Under protest, mind you.

Or, if he were to use another more immediate, tangible example, there was Claire standing before him, yelling her lungs out, and about ready to pop a blood vessel. Her long hair was up in a bun, and she had taken off her jacket and scarf now that they were back in her apartment. The TV was on in the background, a street reporter standing in front of the demolished bank. It was later in the day now, the sun sinking closer and closer to the horizon, shining through her living room windows.

Gar scratched the beard on his cheek, confused. He must've done something wrong. It couldn't be the bag of money. Previous experiences had taught Gar that people loved money, and the more they had the happier they would be. Tentatively looking back towards the door, he frowned. He hadn't made a mess, so that wasn't it. He hadn't broken anything that he was aware of either. Curiously, he sniffed the air. Sometimes women got cranky at certain times of the month, and it was best to steer clear, but she didn't smell like that. And Gar knew better than to ask.

Looking down at himself, he wondered if it was because of his appearance. His shirt and pants were ripped and torn in certain places, so he looked a mess, but he was okay more or less. He wondered if that was it. Sometimes people were concerned for him if he came back all battered and whatnot. But no, he was pretty sure she was mad _at him_ , and not just worried for his health. _Hmmm._ Maybe he would learn more if he listened to what she was saying.

"– Seriously what the hell!?" She finished, panting slightly after her rant.

Gar waited a few moments, awkwardly scratching the back of his head, and blinking.

"Is this because I left you to walk home on your own?" He asked cautiously.

Claire's fists tightened as she clenched her eyes close in frustration, her whole body quivering with anger. Then she stomped over towards the table where Gar had upended the backpack, spilling money all over the surface. She grabbed a brick of bills, and waved it at him.

"What the hell is this?"

One of his eyebrows raised reflexively. "It's money."

"Why is it here, in my apartment?" She wasn't yelling anymore, but her voice was no less furious.

"Because I said I would pay you? You know, for the days that I'd be staying here?"

"And where, pray tell, did you get it?"

"The bank?"

"So you _stole_ this money from the bank? And brought it back _here_ , to _my home_?"

Oh. So it was about the money. The Titans had also tried to stop him from taking it. Interesting.

"Uh… I guess?"

Gar jerked his head to the right as the wad of cash whizzed by, inches from his ear.

"What the hell Gar!?" She yelled.

It must be because he broke one of those "laws" that people had. Another thing that he didn't understand. Gar didn't really know why he could do some things, but not other things, especially when some people loved it when he broke the laws, and others hated him for it. It was very confusing. The rules seemed pretty arbitrary. Eyes following Claire as she paced around the room, still yelling, Gar considered what to do in order to calm her down. He should probably apologize. Usually when people were mad at him, he could apologize, and at least get his foot in the door.

"Sorry!"

Claire paused, and turned to face him, her arms crossed, and a severe expression on her face.

"You don't like the money, I get that. I apologize." He continued.

She glared at him. "Why the hell did you do it?! I thought you just wanted to see them, not royally piss them off!"

"Well, they were busy after we beat those Hive guys, and there was money just laying around, and I remembered I told you I would pay you, so…" He gestured helplessly.

"Oh my God!" She groaned, pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes as she stomped away again.

Gar cast his eyes downward. "Sorry…"

"You should be!" She exclaimed hotly. "You realize now that I'm an accessory to your crime? I could go to jail!"

Gar nodded even though he didn't really know what she was talking about. Sometimes it was just better to agree with an angry woman. One of the few things he remembered his father saying. Looking up, he realized Claire was leaving the room, and started following her down the hallway.

"Claire?" He called after her, but she ignored him.

He barely caught himself in time to avoid walking into her bedroom door as she slammed it shut behind her.

"Claire?" He asked quietly, knocking softly on her door.

"Leave me alone!" Came her harsh reply.

Gar opened his mouth to try again, but then closed it again after reconsidering.

Scrunching his eyebrows, Gar walked back to the living room, a perplexed frown adorning his face. This was not the reaction he'd been expecting. Usually people loved it when he brought them money. He looked at the pile of currency on the table, not sure what to do now. Claire obviously didn't want it.

Could he take it back? Maybe. The Titans probably wouldn't greet him kindly though, he needed to let them cool down before seeing them again. The police then? Well, whenever he came in contact with them, it usually ended poorly. _Fuck it, I'll just take it back to the bank, and leave it with a note_. Normally he would like to face his problems head on, but he didn't want to cause Claire anymore trouble.

His mind made up, he set about gathering the cash, and putting it back into the backpack. A passing thought caused him to pause momentarily. How would he pay her? How do people normally go about getting money, if they didn't take it from the bank? Questions to ask Claire once she calmed down, he decided. For now, he'd return the money, and make her dinner. Hopefully he'd get the reaction he expected this time.

.

.

The Titans lay strewn on the couch, exhausted from their encounter with Feral. The fight had lasted way longer than it should have, and they ended up losing him anyway. The bank had been damaged further in their attempts to neutralize the changeling, which they were sure to hear about later on. Raven sat in the far corner of the couch, looking at her teammates. Of all of them, she had probably fared the best, having joined the fight late. She had received the least attacks, and was simply dirty, after healing herself. Although she had healed many of the injuries Robin sustained, his fists were still sore from fighting directly with Feral, and he currently had them in a bowl of ice as he sat on the couch. Starfire sat next to him, looking worriedly into a handheld mirror. The ink had stained the roots of her hair around her hairline as well as her eyebrows, though they were much lighter than they had been initially, after she had washed several times. Grumbling to himself as he flipped through the channels, Cyborg was simply peevish, having been knocked out of the fight after only a single punch. _Drama queen_.

Tired from the day's activities, they had opted to order a pizza or two, and watch a movie for an early dinner. As they waited, Cyborg had taken it upon himself to start the process of deciding on a flick to watch, and was bringing up one of the many digital movie and TV services they subscribed to. As the others began to discuss their choices, Raven slipped a finger in between the pages of her book, having lost interest. She had questions about this green shape shifter floating around her head that simply would not leave. His behavior had been practically cartoonish, all his actions exaggerated, his words glib, but friendly, and he had done everything without a hint of sarcasm. There had been no evil or malicious intent in him that Raven could detect, so she still held to her initial conclusion that he had just been having fun. Not the perverse enjoyment that villains got from causing wonton destruction, and mass terror, but childish, honest fun. Like a child running around the playground, playing a particularly rowdy game of tag.

The doorbell rang, and Cyborg got up from the couch to go see who it was. Then he stopped and turned around.

"Okay guys, empty your pockets. If it's the pizza guy, he's going to want a tip." He said.

"Do you think ten dollars is enough?" Robin asked, pulling out his wallet from his belt.

Cyborg gave him a flat look. "After he came all the way here to our island? Don't be stingy."

"It's all I've got on me." Robin said defensively.

Cyborg raised an eyebrow, but then looked expectantly at Starfire and Raven. The alien Princess left to go get her purse while Raven huffed, and retrieved a small clutch bag from a pocket dimension. After collecting the money Cyborg went to the elevator, and headed down. Raven resumed blankly looking at nothing as she pondered the day's events. She had to admit, Feral had been sort of charming. And attractive.

"Raven, before I forget, what was your read on this new villain today?" Robin asked, his voice breaking her train of thought.

Pursing her lips, Raven considered her words carefully. "Actually, I'm not completely convinced that he is, in fact, a villain."

"What!?" Robin said, raising his voice, and sitting up straighter in his position on the couch. "Of course he is! Just look at what he did today!"

"Yes! Just look at my poor eyebrows! And my hair!" Starfire chimed in mournfully, and Robin gestured towards her pointedly.

"Yes, there is that. But he didn't necessarily _act_ like a villain. More like a prankster." Raven replied calmly.

Robin scowled. "What about the money he stole!? And all the damage to the bank?!"

"I'm not sure about the money." Raven admitted. "It could be that he was simply telling the truth about what he was going to do with it. And most of the damages post-Hive Five were actually done by Cyborg and Starfire."

At this, Starfire looked away with a slight flush, embarrassed. At the same time the doors opened, and Cyborg returned.

"I heard my name, what's up?" He said, placing the pizza boxes on the table.

Robin whirled around to face him. "Raven doesn't think Feral is an evil bastard!"

The metal man's human eye widened. His face screwed up, outraged. "What!?" He nearly shouted, then turned towards the sorceress, pointing at his face. "Raven, look at my chin! It's scuffed, Raven! Scuffed!"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Yes, of course. To place a mark on Cyborg or his precious _baby_ is the epitome of villainy."

"He has a point, Raven. The Feral did fight us. If he were not evil, then why would he attack us?" Starfire asked, still worrying one of her eyebrows with a finger.

"It's true that he did fight us. But it could be argued that we started it. And consider this; besides the very minor wounds we received, all of us came out perfectly fine. Seemore has severe retinal damage, Billy Numerous has multiple breaks and fractures in all but one of his limbs, and Mammoth needed nearly three hundred stitches." Raven deadpanned with an arched eyebrow. "If he wanted to hurt us he very obviously could have, and yet he didn't."

That caused the other three to become silent. Raven took this as a sign to continue.

"On top of all that, I didn't sense any malice or greed from him, so I don't think he arrived there with the intention of stealing or fighting at all."

The other Titans looked pensive for a while, each one of them considering Raven's words. Then Robin looked up sharply, and pointed one finger at her.

"But he did take the money! Even if he isn't a villain, stealing is still illegal!" He said triumphantly.

Raven rolled her eyes again. "Fine. Next time we see him you can try arresting him again, considering how well it turned out _this_ time."

Robin scowled, readying a retort, but was cut short by the ring of his communicator. He tossed a glare at her before answering.

"This is Robin. Yes. Of course. Mhmm. What? _What?_ Fax it to me immediately! Don't let anybody touch anything!"

Cyborg started following Robin as the masked hero made his way towards his office. "Everything all right Rob?"

"That was the police Commissioner. He said a little under half an hour ago, his officers guarding the bank picked up a bag full of money. It was dropped off by a wolf, a _green_ wolf. He said there was a note attached to it." Robin said angrily, exiting the common room in a rush.

"Huh." Cyborg turned around with a slightly puzzled look. "You don't think that…"

"I just finished telling you what I thought." Raven said simply.

"But that wouldn't make any sense!"

"Only if he were a criminal or villain. Which, as I said, I don't think he is."

Cyborg's response was cut off as Robin came storming back into the room, a piece of printer paper in hand. He brought to the table, and slammed it down as everyone gathered around him. The paper was a photocopy of the note, which had apparently been torn out of a spiral-bound notebook, and written with a green pen. It read:

 _Hey Titens! All that fighting and it turns out I didn't even need it! I did take a little for groceries tho. No hard feelings OK? See ya!_

The note was appended by a small cartoon figure of Feral giving the peace sign, and sticking out his tongue while winking.

"He spelled 'Titans' wrong." Raven observed with a small, wry smirk. She also noticed the shoddy penmanship.

Starfire looked confused. "Why would he take the money if he didn't need it?"

"That little asshole is making fun of us!" Cyborg growled.

Robin kicked an unlucky chair over. "Sonofabitch!"

.

.

A woman with long black hair pushed open the door to the bar, her nose wrinkling at the slightly foul stench. It wasn't a pleasant place, and it was unusual to find someone of her beauty there. She walked, however, with the confidence of someone who had been in places like this before. Making her way over to the counter, she made a point of not reacting to the way it seemed all eyes had suddenly fallen on her. The place was packed with a horde of rough-and-tumble men, grim faced, and beady eyed. The dregs of society. The bar was a place for criminals and miscreants to gather, and it rarely saw anyone other than the usual clientele. A beautiful woman in such a place was practically like blood in the shark tank. It wasn't long after she sat down that she was approached by a large man with a shaved head, tattoos and scars covering him almost entirely.

"Hey there beautiful, what's a pretty little thing like you doing here? Looking for a little… Danger?" He asked in what he thought was a seductive manner.

The woman turned to him on her stool. "As a matter of fact, yes." She said, giving him a sly smile. "I don't suppose you know where I can find some?"

The man smiled in return. "Oh, I think I can help find some for you." He said with a dark chuckle, one of his hands sliding up her thigh.

The woman's smile widened. And then he was face down on the ground, his breath knocked out of him, and one arm twisting painfully behind his back. One of the woman's stiletto heels was digging painfully in between his shoulder blades.

"Oh good. Then let's start with a simple question." She said. "Do you know who the Hive Five are?"

Still struggling to breathe, the man nodded.

"I need to find them. I have a proposition for them I think they'll find interesting."

.

.

Who could it be?! _Who could it possibly be_?! It's probably pretty obvious. Whatever. Another chapter for this fic that everyone seems to love! And honestly, I'm actually really enjoying myself. It's also pretty easy for me to write this too. But I need to work on my other two stories, The Things We Hide, and Codename Titan. Seriously it's been forever. It doesn't help that I'm also working on a one-shot/possible two-shot. It's not even hard to write! It's just that I don't have the discipline to sit down to do it. Oh well. Read, review, follow, favorite, and seriously check out my other stories!


	5. Friend or foe

_GOOD GOD IN HEAVEN, IT'S THE MAILBAG!_

Fiery Pancake – I need 100cc of new chapter, STAT! Live, damn you, _live_!

zanessa14luv18 – Ask, and thou shalt receive. Although, probably not in a timely manner.

i-scream-for-bbrae – Thanks! I'm glad that you find this story so intriguing, and I'm hoping that as we learn more about him you'll only find him more interesting.

Bunnyfire – Ya, don't worry about me not continuing this, I've actually got some stuff already written out for the three different arcs I'm planning (does that spoil anything?). Thanks for reading all my stuff!

Kurokawa Kazunari – Because writing is hard? Because reading other fics is easier? Because I procrastinate? Because _life_? Take your pick, the list goes on. Thanks for your praise though.

shugokage – Thanks!

ForThereWillComeSoftRains – Ha ha, that some high praise! Yeah he's a really charming character.

Righteous Kitsune Sennin – Thanks, but it's funny because I didn't really have the Merc with a Mouth specifically in mind when writing Feral. He is probably my favorite antihero though. I am honored that you made the comparison, and that you find my writing funny. Will do!

Foamsatmouth – IKR?

Guest – I try not to use techniques like that, it just doesn't seem… professional(?) to me. Not to shit on Golem though, he is an excellent writer, and I'm actually following at least one, if not more, of his stories. I've also read Gifts, which is great.

IHaveaFanficProblom – Well here's more, just try and pace yourself.

iluvfriedchicken – _Maaaaybe_?

JP-Ryder –… Yes. Obviously…*Coughs*… I'm planning their next encounter with Feral. It's going to be fun. Just wait till you see what Claire has to deal with in this chapter.

detrametal – Yes it's almost _exactly_ like that. I wonder what the Titans will think about that as well…

TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne – Maybe, maybe not.

 _._

 _._

 _Beep._

 _Beep._

 _Beep._

That constant sound, the slowness of the line, and the general atmosphere of this place all conspired against Gar, making him want to slam his head down repeatedly on the counter next to him. Instead, he tapped his hands on his thighs in a rapid staccato rhythm. Is this what people did? Is this how everyone lived? This was torture. Cruel and unusual torture. Gar cringed as the clerk dragged yet another item across the scanner, eliciting another _beep._ He could leave. Anytime he wanted to. He could go, and find something entertaining, or exciting to do. Just go outside an–

Gar shook his head vigorously, paying no mind to the strange looks he got. Claire was being nice enough to buy new clothes for him, the least he could do was stand in line with her as she bought them, even though he hated this place. She found out the day before that Gar only had about three shirts, and two pairs of pants, and that he didn't wash them very often, or really, ever. Even though he was still in the doghouse for the whole bank heist thing, Claire was still letting him stay in her apartment, which was incredibly cool of her.

However, staying with her came with some rules. Personal hygiene, and general cleanliness being one of the first things she addressed. Gar wasn't necessarily against those things, he just… forgot sometimes. Sure, he washed his dishes, but that was just force of habit since the guy he learned to cook from would go ballistic otherwise. As a wanderer, he moved around a lot, and often stayed outside for long periods of time in the forms of various animals, so proper hygiene wasn't a main concern for him. Animals didn't care very much if you smelled or not, and it was always weird when he started living among humans again. They were so very _fussy_ about it.

The other thing she said was no criminal activity. He didn't _exactly_ know what she meant by that, so just to be safe he asked her to clarify. She started listing a whole bunch of different things. As far as he could tell, it was mainly about a couple different things. As long as he didn't take anything that wasn't already his without asking, or hurt others, he could pretty much do whatever else he wanted. More or less. He lost track after a minute because there was a lot that she was saying, and not all of it made sense to Gar. And because it was _boring_.

He did ask why, but the only reason he got was because it was "wrong". Whatever the hell that meant. It seemed to Gar that people tied themselves down with these arbitrary rules and guidelines for no particular reason at all. Like, if he couldn't take the things he wanted or the money needed to buy them, what the hell was he supposed to do? Apparently, most people worked at jobs to _earn_ money. That idea made Gar itchy. Before him, Claire moved up in the line a couple feet, and Gar followed dutifully behind her. The laws that most humans supposedly followed went against what others, and nature had taught him. Gar hated being told what to do or feeling controlled. Normally he wouldn't stand for it, but Claire was nice, and he liked her. She didn't seem like the others he met. She treated him like he was… normal.

"Quit that!" Claire stage whispered at him.

Gar blinked at her, confused. He wasn't doing anything. He had been doing nothing for _forever_ , and it was driving him crazy. Claire looked pointedly at his tapping hands, her mouth a tight little line, eyes glaring. They had moved from his legs to the counter before him, and were making a lot of noise now. Him being green, public attention was already on the two of them, and his hands weren't making them less conspicuous.

"Sorry." Gar said, not actually sorry. He stopped tapping though. No need to make her even more angry than she already was at him. Shoving his hands in his pockets to keep them out of trouble, Gar let his eyes wander the department store, bored out of his mind. The people in line behind and before him stood with slouched postures, eyes glazed over, or staring blankly at their phones. They were already dead, the poor bastards. His eyes eventually drifted to the TVs in the entertainment section way off to his right. They were playing the news, reruns, which was incredibly dull, but it was something at least to distract, and entertain him somewhat. Just then the news switched to a different story, and the screen was displaying those guys he fought the other day, the Titans. It showed their Alpha, the spiky headed guy with the sticks, the partially metal robot guy, and the redheaded alien girl. He was a little surprised that he remembered them at all, though he didn't remember much beyond that. Still, they must have made strong impressions if he could recall them on sight alone. _I really need to get better at remembering people. But hey, at least I didn't forget them entirely._

And then the TV showed Raven. Gar was startled, and then he marveled at how clearly he recalled her. On the screen she wore a hood, and stood slightly behind the others, as if to hide herself, but Gar remembered her features with surprising exactness. Short, simple, _gorgeous_ indigo hair. Entrancing amethyst eyes that seemed to see right to his core. Delicate porcelain skin that wanted for a gentle touch. Lips that he hungered for. And her _scent_. A complex blend of paper, ink, lavender, spices, and a million other things that profoundly intoxicated him. Gar knew what it was to want a woman, and this… This was not that.

He glanced down, seeing that his hand had drifted up towards his chest, gripping his longsleeved shirt, and the necklace underneath. Letting go, he looked around, and saw that he had drifted away from the checkout line. _Whoops_. He made his way over to Claire, who was paying with her card as the clerk scanned, and bagged her items.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to walk away." He apologized.

"It's fine." She replied. "You were obviously losing your mind."

"Heh." Gar chuckled, and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Claire handed him some bags and they walked out of the store towards the mall exit. "I don't know how you can stand that place." He said.

"What, the mall?"

"Yeah. All the clashing smells, and sounds? Plus, you have to wait in line." It wasn't just that though. That place was… Too much. Too many people gathered together, not doing what people were made to do. Unnatural.

Claire hummed as they entered the parking garage. "I guess I shouldn't expect much from the guy who doesn't know what jobs are."

"Hey! I know what jobs are." Gar said defensively. "I just didn't know what they were _for_. And how was I supposed to, if no one ever explained it to me?"

"It never occurred to you to ask where money came from? Or why people have jobs in the first place?"

"Well honestly, no, it didn't. I thought money came from the bank, and people do a lot of stuff that I don't understand, so I don't ask questions too often."

"You're unbelievable. This is, like, Being a Person 101, Gar." She said in an exasperated tone as they approached her car.

"Yeah, well, I've had a somewhat informal education." He retorted as they both placed their bags in the back, and then getting into the passenger seat.

"More like no education." She quipped, getting into the driver seat.

Gar held a hand over his heart, and braced himself on the dashboard dramatically. "You wound me, Claire. I know _some_ things." He sulked, looking down dejectedly.

At that, Claire tried to suppress a chuckle. Gar's head snapped up, and he looked at her with a triumphant grin.

"Aha! I knew you weren't still mad at me!" He exclaimed, pointing one finger at her. "No one can _possibly_ stay mad at me."

"That's a rather bold claim." She said, trying to return her face to neutral.

Gar relaxed in his seat, grinning. "Yeah. It's also completely untrue. I know at least several people who are _very_ angry with me."

Claire laughed at that, and let the smile stay on her face. "Okay fine, I'm not _entirely_ mad at you anymore. But you seriously can't get into trouble again. I don't want to find the Titans knocking on my door." She thought about that for a second. "Well, actually I do, but not if their looking for you."

"Okay. I swear, I won't get into trouble."

Her gaze landed on him in a critical glare, one eye narrowed.

"I won't!" Gar assured her.

"Good." Claire turned the key, and pulled out of her parking spot.

.

.

One hand came up, and lightly brushed the cuts that crisscrossed almost one half of his face. Instantly he pulled his hand away, and hissed at the harsh sting. If he ever saw that green bastard again, he'd make that freak pay. The cuts weren't very deep, but there were many, and Kyd Wykkyd didn't have the resources or connections to take care of them properly at the moment. Exposed as they were now, they were more prone to infection so he tried to keep them as clean as possible. Tough to do in his current abandoned warehouse of a hideout. He could get water, but he needed bandages, and antiseptic. Stitches would be ideal, but he doubted anyone would be willing to work on him.

This was one of the Hive Five's safe houses. One of the poor ones. It was unfurnished, poorly lit, and dirty, with barely any working necessities. Whatever windows weren't shattered were covered in a thick layer of grime and dust, murky sunlight streaming through wherever it could. Wind too. Autumn was upon the city in earnest now, and with no proper heating or insulation, the cold came inside, and stayed there. Kyd would much rather be in their main base, with all the conveniences stolen money could buy, but the Hive Five never went directly back to that base for fear that they'd been stuck with some sort of tracking device. Normally Gizmo would check each of them before they headed there, but without his team he'd have to resort to another method. Namely, waiting it out here to see if the heroes came to kick down the door, though it'd been a couple days so it should be safe…

Noise from down below, a door opening. Kyd tensed in his position in the rafters, heart nearly jumping out of his throat, and looked around. The Titans? No, it was just one person. A woman. She stepped inside and sniffed disdainfully. With hands on her hips, she picked her way forward, regarding the refuse, and abandoned factory equipment with mild disgust. The _click clack_ of her heels on the concrete floor resounded ominously through the dark warehouse with each step. She wore a dark gray, longsleeved, off-shoulder top that hugged her hourglass figure. Tightfitting black pants clad her legs, and she wore black suede stilettos with silver soles and heels. A chain bracelet of silver, jet, and amethyst adorned one wrist.

"So this is where the infamous Hive Five come to lick their wounds." She said mockingly. "An unfortunate choice in venue."

Kyd Wykkyd's lips peeled back in a vicious snarl, and he stepped back into the shadows, reappearing seconds later on the ground behind the mystery woman. She had long, jet black hair that flowed like silk over her shoulders and down her back. He hissed, and the woman whirled around to face him, a strange purple energy pulsing in her hand, and from her eyes. Kyd moved quickly, wrenching that hand out of the way, and wrapping his fingers around her throat. Up close, he saw that she was strikingly beautiful, with sharp features. She seemed familiar, yet, not. They stood for a moment like that, eyes locked on each other, and the air tense around them. Finally, the woman smiled.

"Why don't we call this a draw? I'd hate to hurt a new friend." She said, glancing down pointedly.

He followed her gaze down to find that she had her other hand placed against his stomach, her palm glowing with that same purple energy. Kyd released her and jumped away, ready to continue the fight, but the woman simply relaxed and rubbed at where his hand had gripped her.

"So, you're Kyd Wykkyd. Well, I assume anyway." She said, and glanced around for moment. "Is there no one else? How disappointing."

Kyd simply growled under breath, and flexed his hands as he glared at her. The woman started strolling around, inspecting the building. Distrustful and cautious, he mirrored her movement as she circled.

"As I understand it, you're one of the Titans' more frequent enemies, and despite your current, _pitiful_ state, I hear that you do fairly well against them normally. After fighting against them for so long, you must know a few of their weaknesses, surely." She said conversationally. "So we find ourselves at the threshold of a mutually beneficial relationship."

Glancing at him, the black haired woman stepped closer, and Kyd took a step back, squinting as a shaft of light from a broken window lit up his face.

"Ah. That's an interesting souvenir." She observed, sliding her fingers across her cheek, indicating the lacerations on his own face. "What if I told you that by helping me, you could pay it back to them ten times over? That we could lay them low, and make them suffer? What would you say to that?"

At this, Kyd Wykkyd froze. The cuts on his face burned as he thought of the Titans and their green friend. He met the stranger's eyes, and his seldom used voice was a hoarse whisper as he replied.

"Go on."

.

.

"Whoa. This is some _freaky_ shit."

Robin looked up and walked over to where Cyborg sat at the table, a laptop placed before him on its surface. "What is?"

"Well you know how we got some of Feral's DNA from the ink on Starfire?" He replied without looking.

Raven perked up at the mention of the green stranger's name, and casually drifted over from the stove where she'd been making her tea.

"Yeah." Robin responded, leaning over to look at the screen.

"Well I tried to find any matches in the Justice League database, but this guy is completely unknown. _However_ , our machine did have a record of him."

"What? How?"

The half metal man looked at Robin. "Because his DNA matches that which we found at the crime scene the other day, the one with the two gangster victims. But that's not the freaky part."

"What is, then?" Raven asked from his other side, peering at the screen.

Cyborg flinched as if surprised at her voice, but continued. "Well, uh, his DNA is constantly changing. Now that I'm getting a look at it, I can understand why the computer can't tell what it is, because he's a shape shifter and his genetic makeup is unstable. All it can do is recognize the pattern of how it changes."

"Interesting." She commented absently, reading the screen intently.

"Interesting? Oh yeah, it's real _interesting_ how your supposedly non-villainous friend sent two civilians to the hospital, one in critical condition and the other without his fucking _tongue_." Robin said, glaring at her.

Raven rolled her eyes. She and Robin had been going back and forth over this for the past two days, and she was getting increasingly annoyed that she had to keep explaining her reasoning. "He sent two _known criminals_ to the hospital. We do it all the time." She said, stepping back from the table to face him.

" _Not_ without good reason, and _not_ in such severe conditions. Both victims said that this guy just attacked them out of nowhere, laughing like a madman."

"And we're suddenly taking the word of gangsters at face value? They could've easily done something to provoke him, like trying to mug him. In fact, that's probably what happened. The two idiots bit off more than they could chew, and it bit back harder."

"Or, an even _likelier_ story is that this Feral tried to mug them, realized they didn't have anything worth taking, and went to rob a bank the next day."

"And he goes and chooses the same bank as the Hive Five?" Raven countered with a raised eyebrow.

"Sure. They'd already broken open the vault, and cleared out all the civilians, making it easier for him."

"Except that he had to fight through both _them_ , _and us_ to get at any of the money. Not to mention, he returned all the money he stole the very same day."

"Not _all_ the money." Robin ground out through his teeth.

"Yes, I'm sure the bank is _really_ hurting for the eighty-three dollars he took." Raven returned sarcastically. "I wouldn't be surprised if the bank manager claimed more was stolen, and took it for himself."

"Okaaay." Cyborg said nervously, stepping in between the two of them with his hands raised in a placating gesture. "Can we take a step back here, guys?"

Robin ignored the older boy, huffing and going to go lean against the wall with his arms crossed. "I don't see why you're so enamored with this guy–"

"I'm not _enamored_ with anyone, least of all someone I've barely spoken to. I just don't want another Thunder and Lightning situation." Raven said hotly with a glare. "Or did you forget what a mess that was?"

Robin scowled at that. It had taken days for them to understand that the elemental brothers were simply obnoxious, and not malevolent in nature. By then Slade had already used them to create his monster, and the Titans had a marathon of a time fighting it. They managed to defeat it in the end with the aid of the brothers when they realized their role in all the destruction.

"I take from your silence that you finally get my point." Raven said after a tense moment of them glaring at each other. "We shouldn't jump to conclusions before we get all the facts. We may find ourselves with a very powerful ally if we simply just take the time to talk."

Robin simply ground his teeth in response, stonefaced.

"Or, Robin's right." Their half metal friend interjected again, earning a cross look from the empath. "I'm just saying."

Sighing, Raven pinched the bridge of her nose. "Or, for reasons I can't fathom, you two can't get over yourselves, and the fact that he beat us fair, and square. Starfire and I have already moved on, why can't you two?"

The scowl on Robin's face remained rigidly in place. "This has nothing to do with ego, and everything to do with the danger he poses to the city. He was able to take on all four of us without breaking a sweat, and that means he is not someone to take lightly."

With that, the leader of the Titans stalked out of the room. Raven sighed again, leaning back against the table next to Cyborg.

"He's right you know." The eldest Titan said. "Feral seriously kicked our asses, so we should be extra careful."

Raven rolled her eyes. "I know that. I'm just saying that we don't have to treat him as an enemy right off the bat, especially when he didn't seem to want to cause us harm."

Cyborg looked thoughtful for a moment. "Why do you think that was?" He asked.

"I'm not sure." She replied with a shrug. "But it feels like I'm the only one wants to find out."

.

.

Gar Logan, a.k.a. Feral, was very strange. Claire watched him as he sat upside down on her couch, his legs bent over the back, laughing at the cartoons on the TV, and considered everything she had observed since meeting him. She had to conclude that his behavior was completely inconsistent. One minute he'd be almost normal, holding a rather eloquent conversation with her, and the next he was scratching behind his ear with one of his _feet_. Sometimes he'd walk around furniture, other times he stepped right over, or crawled underneath it. He only vaguely had a sense of what privacy was, which she'd realized when he tried to use the bathroom while she was in the shower. Similarly, his manners were all over the place. He would open doors for people, and pull out a chair for her, but in the next moment he would be well within her personal space, _smelling_ her. A good way to describe him would be that he was a sort of hybrid between wild-man, man-child, and renaissance man. It was _very_ odd.

Still, there was a sort of animal magnetism he possessed that Claire couldn't deny. Gar really was very good-looking, if you didn't mind green skin, pointed ears, and fangs. And he was charming. The way that he spoke, and acted towards people was friendly, honest, and forthright, but he also had a sharp wit and a great sense of humor, if sometimes a little cheesy. He also meant well. If he did something wrong, or something that she didn't like, all she had to do was tell him so, and maybe explain why, and he would sincerely try not to do it again. All of that was almost enough to let her forget how she had first met him, and how easily he had done what he did. It only reminded her that she was getting inordinately attached to someone she in fact knew very little about.

He had said earlier that he had been unconventionally educated, but that was a vast understatement. Claire had spent the evening of the day before quizzing him, and as best as she could figure Gar had something between a fifth grader's, and an eleventh grader's education, but even saying that was not entirely accurate. Things like his ability to read and write were crude. He couldn't do long division or multiply to save his life. However, he was staggeringly knowledgeable about biology, biogeochemistry, and ecology. He was an excellent cook, but also had many other hidden talents. The other day he had fixed her grandmother's antique watch, which had stopped working entirely, as a form of apology. He'd even told her why her car was making a particular sound, and how she could fix it without paying a mechanic to do it for her. Gar was definitely not stupid or idiotic, but there were huge gaps in his education academically, socially, and societally. Claire had to wonder what kind of life he must have lived to have such an eccentric and eclectic showcase of knowledge and skills. Which brought up an interesting question she'd been meaning to ask.

"Gar?" She asked as he got up from the couch and moved to the kitchen. "How did you get your powers?"

"You know, everyone asks me that at some point." He replied as he opened a cabinet to grab more chips.

For a moment, there was only the sound of chips being poured into a bowl, and then the sound of a drink being poured into a glass.

"Well?" Claire prompted him, turning around from her position in the corner of the couch to watch him.

"Well what?" He asked, coming back towards her with his renewed refreshments.

"Well, aren't you going to tell me how?"

"Oh." He said. "I don't know."

"You don't know if you're going to tell me?"

"No, I mean I don't know how I got them."

She gawked at him, incredulous. "Excuse me? You don't _know_?"

"Yup."

"How do you not know where they came from?"

"I don't know. I just, uh, can't remember."

"And you're just fine with that?"

"Affirmative." The green man said, sticking a few chips in his mouth and flopping back down.

Claire simply stared at him in open shock. "You are not curious _at all_?"

"Nah. I mean, I guess it would be cool to know." He said with a shrug.

A laugh escaped her lips at how cavalier he was being about his own life. She honestly didn't know what she'd expected, Gar was someone who lived completely in the moment.

"Nevermind." She said. "So you can transform into any animal that you see?"

Her green house guest nodded, eyes glued on the TV.

"And that includes extinct animals?"

He nodded again. "As far as I've found."

"What else can you do?"

"I can independently transform any part of my body, which gives me the properties and abilities of the chosen animal."

"What does that look like?" She asked.

Gar simply reached out to his drink, and as he did so his hand turned into an octopus tentacle, wrapping around the glass, and bringing it to his lips. Claire watched it happen with rapt attention. She absolutely loved superpowers, and superheroes. It was kind of an obsession, and she was seriously nerdy about it.

"That is so _weird_." She gushed. "But in a totally awesome way."

He laughed. "Thanks? I have to say, normal people aren't usually so amicable after I show them stuff like that."

"You forget; I work for The Department of Supernatural Incidents and Affairs. Stuff like this is my bread-and-butter." Claire replied. "But for the vast majority, I suppose it can be a little offputting."

Gar just hummed in agreement.

"What else can you do?"

He glanced at her with a grin. "What, changing into any conceivable animal isn't enough for you?"

"Well, I mean, that's obviously awesome, but I was just wondering if you had other powers besides that."

The changeling looked thoughtful for a moment. "Does teleportation count?"

Claire did a double take, eyes wide. " _What_?"

Gar's grin grew even wider, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "Gotcha."

Grabbing one of the pillows behind her, she swung and delivered a quick blow to his face. "You dork!" She laughed.

"In all honesty though, shape shifting is about the extent of my abilities." He said, pulling the pillow off of his face, still smiling.

"All right. That's still _pretty_ cool."

They spent the next few hours just watching TV, and talking until Claire had to go to bed. She had to work in the morning, and as entertaining as Gar was, she still had responsibilities. She found that, a lot of the time, when she spoke with her new flatmate it raised more questions than answers. Ultimately though, she was glad to know him. If he hadn't come along that night… Well, she didn't like to think about it. As it was now, she had trouble sleeping, but knowing that she had a badass, shape shifting superhero sleeping in the other room, who had been willing to read peoples' tongues out _before_ they'd been friends was extremely comforting.

.

.

"Who are these two?" She asked, turning the computer screen around to show her new ally.

The shadow jumper stepped away from the mirror where he'd been poking at his bandages, and looked at the two images being shown. "Mercenaries." He rasped. "Work together. One's good with knives. The other, a blaster."

She tapped her chin, considering. "Interesting. However, hiring them wouldn't give what I'm planning the right _flavor_. After all, revenge requires a more personal touch."

Kyd Wykkyd grunted in response, and came to stand next to her at the desk where she sat. "Here. These three." He pointed, picking out three individuals from the many on her list.

"What about those three?" One of her eyebrows quirked up questioningly.

"Strong. Hate Titans." He said, voice sounding like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together.

"Yes, but look where they are." She pointed out.

"Need crew then. _My_ crew."

Swiveling in her chair to regard him, she thought about what he was proposing. Finally, Blackfire smiled. "Sure. I've always had a little flair for the dramatic."

.

.

 _Ahahahahahahaha_! You guys thought it was _Madame Rouge_! _Ahahahahahahaha_! What a bunch of _idiots_!

In all fairness though, I probably confused you guys by saying she was wearing stiletto heels. My bad. Sorry this chapter took forever to get out, I don't mean to take so long. I rotate through my stories, depending on when I last updated, so I had to get through all my other ones before I could update Chaotic again. And I was trying _really hard_ to write out a coherent plot line. Structure is the bane of my existence, what can I say? I'm getting better at it though. Maybe. Anyway, stay tuned, follow, favorite, and please drop a review. Seriously, that shit makes my day.

Also, I did a thing in this chapter. A very subtle, very brief reference to some of you may or may not pick up on. It depends on how much you read on this site. Those who catch it are entitled to *reaches in pocket* a gum wrapper, $.37, and the paperclip I just stabbed myself with.


	6. Man about Town

C-can it be? Can it possibly be true? Yes, it is! It's a Christmas miracle! Chaotic Neutral is back!

Apologies and excuses at the end.

 **Recap** : Gar Logan, a.k.a. Feral, new to Jump City and without a place to stay, found on his first night a young woman by the name of Claire in dire straits at the hands of two would-be rapists. After intervening, he convinced Claire to let him stay with her for a few days. The following morning, while having Claire guide him around the city, he heard news of the superheroes known as the Titans in the area, and went to investigate. He arrived at the scene of a bank robbery, and, through a series of misunderstandings, proceeded to fight first the villains, and then the Titans, all the while piquing Raven's curiosity. Gar escaped capture with a bag of ill-gotten money, but upon returning to Claire, finds himself deep in hot water. Gar returned the money to mollify Claire, and has maintained a low profile if for no other reason than to appease his new friend, though he still wishes to meet the local heroes. Meanwhile, the Titans find themselves with differing opinions regarding the new changeling in town, and what his intentions might be. Raven believes this newcomer to be more than meets the eye, and Robin is all too eager to lock him away. Looming in the background are Blackfire and Kyd Wykkyd, planning and waiting for their moment to strike.

.

.

Raven peered around the corner cautiously, trying not to stand out as she followed her targets. It was a good thing she'd worn her civilian persona today, otherwise blending in would have been impossible. One of her hands came up to tug at her gray scarf, pulling it up to cover more of her face as she quickened her pace. It was definitely getting colder out. She was glad for the leather jacket she wore, as the icy wind was starting to cut more deeply.

Up ahead, her two targets stepped into a small deli. She hesitated for a moment, then followed them in. Drifting through the aisles, she pretended to browse magazines as she watched them from the corner of her eye. A weird turn of events had contrived to put her on their trail, and Raven had seized the opportunity, despite her uncertainties. She was wildly out of her comfort zone, and operating alone. At least they hadn't noticed her. While this would normally be Robin's role, she remembered most of the finer points about following a target, and thought she was doing a decent job. They ordered while she waited by the drinks, and wandered over, talking the whole time. Raven put her head down as they drew closer, and listened while they spoke, but it wasn't anything important. They picked up their food a few minutes later, and left.

Raven felt a chill breeze blast her face as she stepped outside to follow. It was a little early for it to be so cold in Jump, but not too out of the ordinary. Catching sight of her quarry, she set herself in the same direction, making sure to stay a few meters back. Eventually, after twenty minutes or so, her marks entered an apartment building, and she had to stop, stepping just inside the alley in between buildings.

Thinking it through, she found she had several options. She could follow them up. There was nothing actually stopping her from waiting inside. Then again, considering what her ultimate goal here was, it might be better to maintain some distance until she gained more information. If she was going to call back up, now would be the time to do it, but she dismissed the idea for the same reasons she had before. More people would just complicate the situation, and she'd like to handle it by herself anyhow. At least for the moment.

Casting her gaze to the darkening sky, she wondered if the roof would be a good waiting spot. It put her close, while also making it less likely to be spotted. It also made it less likely she would spot her true target. Scrunching her brow, Raven looked back down. Either way, it seemed that she was going to have to wait, agai–

"Now _that's_ interesting." A voice said, almost right beside her, causing her to freeze in place. "You smell like her, but you don't _look_ like her."

Slowly, Raven turned her head to look at the owner of the voice, appalled that she'd allowed someone to sneak up on her. She'd been too focused on who she was following, and forgot about her surroundings. Feral stood well within her personal space, a lock of her disguised black hair draped over his fingers as he inspected it curiously. His eyes flicked to hers, and she could see the slit pupils in his emerald irises, focusing on her with skin-tingling intensity.

"But, you _are_ Raven, right?" He asked, leaning in even closer, that predatory gaze sweeping over her.

"Azarath Metrion–"

.

.

 _Earlier_ …

Claire had gone to work at her job for the day, and said she wouldn't be back until six. That had been this morning at eight. It was now noon, and Gar had been left to his own devices for entirely too long. He had tried to stay in the apartment, honest, but TV could only entertain him for so long, and he got restless staying inside if he didn't have something to distract himself. And there was a whole metropolis he hadn't seen yet, just begging for his attention. All of that added together naturally compelled him to go outside, and explore the city.

As he understood it, he could do whatever he wanted provided he didn't get into trouble. That would be a challenge, considering he seemed to have an uncanny knack for attracting said trouble. Luckily, Claire had explained to him that some things, things like superpowered brawls in the middle of the street and daytime theft, would be frowned upon. And likely call the Titans down on his head. Though there was something to be said about the idea of meeting those guys again, Gar thought better of it. Anyway, as long as he avoided that type of activity he pretty much had free reign. Unfortunately, this left him with something of a conundrum. He really didn't have any idea what to do with himself now, with Claire's warnings making him think twice before deciding on anything. It felt like his hands had been figuratively tied, which was only slightly less bad than being literally tied. It made him itch. Not to mention, he didn't have any more money, having recently spent the last of it on a bottle of IncrediBubbles, which left him with even less options. However, not knowing what to do next had never stopped him before, so he continued on his way.

As he continued his stroll, he noticed people openly staring at him. They gawked and gaped at the strange green man in their midst, and Gar just grinned back at them, giving little waves as he passed by. A while back he had realized that he was unique in his appearance. Kind of hard not to notice the difference between himself; a green-from-head-to-toe, pointy eared, sharp toothed shape shifter, and everyone else; who all had varying colors of tan or brown skin, rounded ears, flat teeth, and only one form. The contrast was glaringly obvious.

Gar didn't let it bother him though. He was used to the attention by now, and as far as he could tell, his differences were only an advantage. The vast majority of people simply couldn't do what he could, and honestly, he felt kind of bad for them. They wouldn't get to know what it was like to fly by their own power, or swim for hours on end deep beneath the surface of the ocean. No, they had _jobs_. Gar snickered at that. If being normal meant that he had to get one of those, then he was glad for his abilities, abnormal coloring and all.

Pausing briefly, Gar inhaled deeply. He still had some hours to kill before Claire would be home, and having nothing better to do, he started walking towards the nearby park. It was a beautiful, bright day with a blue sky, and a few clouds, enlivened by a brisk breeze. There were a few people here and there, running with dogs, sitting on benches, or simply enjoying a snack. He came across a pair of old men playing chess on a small table, and watched them from another table for a bit before losing interest. People were _very_ intriguing, he had to give them that. Until only a couple years ago, he had no idea that there was so much to the world. It was kind of mind-boggling.

Of course, he'd always known that there was a whole world beyond the pieces here and there he'd seen, but he had never imagined it to be so chock-full of… Well, so much _more_. The tall buildings, the strange machines, the weird but tasty foods, the amount of people, and the baffling things they did, not to mention, the sheer _vastness_ of it all. Admittedly, it got to him sometimes, but he was much more curious than worried. It was exciting to see or learn something new every day.

Out of nowhere, something whizzed by his head from behind. Reflexively, his hand whipped out and snatched the object out of the air. Bringing it closer to inspect, he angled the orange plastic disk to get a look at both its top and bottom. It was, if he was not mistaken, a "Fizz-bee". He frowned, and cocked his head quizzically. No, that wasn't right. Fizzy-bee? That didn't sound quite right either.

"Hey! Dude!" A man around the same age as Gar came running up. "That was crazy, man! Those were some sick ninja reflexes!"

The man wore jeans, and a hoodie that had the letters JCU printed on the front in a simple design. He suddenly stopped a few feet from the changeling, and stared, obviously surprised. It was clear he didn't know what to make of Gar, and seemed caught between wanting to back away, and his curiosity. Gar peered around the man to see a group of similar people watching the two of them interact.

"Here." Gar smiled, tossing the man his toy.

The man was late to react, barely managing to fumble the disc into his hands. He looked at Gar, backed up a few steps, then turned and ran back to his friends. Gar's smile faded as the stranger ran away, but he waved when the man glanced back over his shoulder. Some people weren't as receptive to the unexpected and strange as others, something the shape shifter was all too aware of, but what could he do? With a sigh and a shrug, he took out the bottle of bubbles as he continued down the path.

.

.

Raven walked into her favorite bookstore, letting the calm, cool atmosphere of the place sink in. It was a welcome change of pace after butting heads with Robin the past day and a half. Her leader simply wouldn't let this issue with Feral lie, and she was finally forced to leave The Tower or lose her calm.

The place was small and local, run by a man she'd become acquainted with. Of course, he didn't know her as Raven, the dark and powerful Titan. He only knew her as Rachel, the quiet, reserved, and somewhat mysterious woman who sometimes spent her afternoons in the corner of his store. There was a leather chair with soft cushions that she was particularly fond of. She would usually put her things on that chair, and then wander the aisles for a few minutes before picking out a book to read for a short while. Some days, like today, she would bring in a few of her mundane, non-magical books to donate. She opened the plain canvas messenger bag she carried, and placed several such books on the counter where an employee, Michael, stood.

"Rachel, hey!" He greeted enthusiastically when he looked up from the phone in his hands, and walked over.

"Good afternoon Michael." Raven returned evenly. Michael was a tall, somewhat lanky twentysomething that had recently developed a small infatuation for her.

"Please, call me Mike. Or Mikey if you like." He smiled. She fought hard to keep her eyes from rolling, as this was the third – _fourth?_ – time he had told her to call him Mike. While she didn't begrudge him his crush, she was pretty sure he was only attracted to her because she kept brushing him off. "So, did you hear about that new theater that opened?"

She shook her head slightly. "No."

"It's supposed to be really nice. With big cushy seats and everything." Michael explained as he put the books into a bin underneath the counter, taking a glance at the titles.

"Is that so." Raven deadpanned, knowing where this was headed and wondering what exactly she could do or say to prevent it from happening.

Michael leaned forward on the counter with his elbows. "I've got a couple coupons, so if you aren't too busy tonight I thought maybe we could see something?"

"Unfortunately, I have other plans. Sorry." Desperately trying to extract herself from the awkward situation, she turned and fled to skulk the aisles for a bit, purposefully not looking in his direction.

Perhaps she was being a little dismissive, but she was in no mood today. Raven supposed she should be flattered by his attentions. After all, he was nice enough, and not at all bad looking. Plus, not a lot of boys went out for the sour and gloomy type, so maybe she was lucky she had stumbled upon him here. However, she had spoken with him on several separate occasions, and honestly? She just felt no connection whatsoever. Despite the fact that he was calm, collected, well read, and well mannered, she found him utterly uninteresting. The qualities she once thought would make the ideal partner were somehow _not_ what she was looking for.

Maybe she was being too unrealistic because of how many books she read, but she was sort of expecting one of those epiphany moments, where something would click and she'd just know. A part of her liked to fantasize, and indulge in the romanticism of that ideal scenario. She also lived with Robin and Starfire. The way they had met was almost written for the movie screen, with the exiled warrior Princess escaping from slavers and immediately clashing with the charismatic hero, only to team up and take down the bad guys. Recently, the media had been lauding them as some sort of perfect couple, and while she knew that was far from the truth, it was still kind of hard for her not to be demotivated. With them around, Raven couldn't help but feel a little bitter when it came to her own less than luminous love life. Not that she was doing much to help herself in that regard either.

One of her fingers traced the spine of some gaudy romance novel, and she pulled it out of its spot on the shelf. The cover had one of those typically tall, and muscular men with long flowing hair. Shirtless for some reason. She didn't really understand the appeal of hair that long on a man, but then again, she didn't really have a lot of experience in that particular field. There had been a number of occasions where she'd seen Starfire running her hands through Robin's hair, so there must be something to it. Raven just chalked it up to another girly instinct she didn't possess.

Her mind turned to all the men she knew, which admittedly was not that many. Robin and Cyborg were, in a strange way, more like brothers than any of her actual blood relations, so she didn't care that they hadn't shown any interest. The rest were the other Titans, but she didn't find herself drawn to anyone in particular. Granted, some of them she didn't know particularly well, but she did know a few. Speedy, and Aqualad for starters. She grimaced at the thought. Maybe not.

 _Ugh, what is wrong with me?_

Frustrated and upset, she shoved the book back into its place. Walking back to leave the store, she noticed a rather sullen looking Michael going back into the break room. A part of her felt bad enough that she considered going back and accepting the date, but another, _bigger_ part of her was more upset that she felt like she was being cornered into considering a guy she wasn't attracted to. And the guy didn't even know her! He thought she was _Rachel_ , he had no idea who she really was. How would he react if he knew that she was in fact Raven of the Titans, half demon sorceress, wielder of unspeakable and horrific power?

Raven pulled up short as she stepped outside, that last thought striking a particularly sour note. How would _anyone_ react, knowing that about her? Could anyone at all, normal or super, want someone like her? They might trust her, they might even like her, but could anyone truly love someone like Raven?

The answer seemed pretty obvious.

For a moment she did nothing, focused on banishing the hollow aching from her chest. This was stupid, she was being stupid. Thoughts like this were no good to anyone. With a deep breath, Raven regained control of herself and stalked off in search of a warm beverage.

.

.

Claire leaned back in her office chair with a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. The tedium of her office job was really getting to her today. Despite the fact she touted her position in the Department of Supernatural Incidents and Affairs like it was some sort of extraordinary privilege, the truth of her day to day was less than glamorous. It was mostly just busy work. Forms upon forms upon forms that endlessly needed to be filled out, sent, evaluated, rejected, sent back in, reevaluated, and then processed. Infinite games of phone tag that emphasized the futility of it all. A mind-numbing government hamster wheel of boredom.

So, it was that, or keep trying to find something on the Internet about her new house guest.

She partially blamed Gar for her predicament. Her new green friend was a whirlwind of activity that was equal parts entertaining and aggravating, so there was never a dull moment in her apartment. However, she still didn't know very much about him. Claire found that he was weirdly vague when it came to discussing anything about himself. He had lots of stories, but the pertinent details of who, where, and when were often sketchy at best. Gar often started his tales with, "I once knew a guy", or "I was in this city when". Whether he was being deliberately obtuse, or it was just the way he was, Claire didn't know, but it made it hard to verify or corroborate with news stories. Especially since he didn't seem to stay around long enough to take credit for anything, good or bad. There were many stories that she'd read that sounded like him, all until the oldest article, one from about three years ago. A man who had been trapped in his car after a nearly fatal accident had put him in the river, had sworn up and down that a _green_ gorilla had pulled him from the wreckage. While the paramedics had indeed found him on the shore, there was no one else to support his story.

With another sigh, Claire stood and started walking towards the break room in search of coffee. She needed caffeine if she was going to make it to the end of the day. As she made her way there, she wondered idly if it would count against her vacation days if she got Gar to break in and "kidnap" her. Then again, it probably wasn't worth the hassle just to skip a day. Plus, she had no way to contact him.

"Hey Claire." A voice said as she entered the break room.

She glanced over to the only other person in the room before heading to the cabinets. "Hi Zoe."

"How's everything?" The young Korean woman asked, stirring the contents of a paper cup on the table next to her.

 _That's not exactly an easy question_.

"Good." Claire replied, affecting a normal tone as thoughts of the past week rushed through her mind.

Zoe Cha was her best friend and coworker, but Claire didn't know how to even _begin_ addressing everything that had happened. Honestly, she was just taking her days moment by moment, not dwelling on things longer than she needed to. If her mind lingered for longer than a minute, she knew she would relive those terrifying moments. And inevitably, she would ask herself a question she didn't want answered.

 _What if Gar hadn't been there?_

"Where's the half-and-half?" She asked, distracting herself from the tendrils of anxiety and revulsion slithering at the base of her skull.

"We're out."

"Splendid." She'd either have to drink her coffee black, or find another caffeinated beverage. Great.

With a heavy sigh, Claire turned around and leaned back against the counter. Truth be told, she didn't even know what she was doing here. Since that night, she hadn't been able to do anything meaningfully productive at her job. If everything she'd worked for could simply end one night because of a wrong turn, what was the point? She was there purely out of habit.

"There's no real sugar left either." Zoe told her, breaking her train of thought. "Just the fake stuff." She looked mildly disgusted. "Also, it's a very old pot of coffee."

"Is that what you're drinking?" Claire indicated the cup on the table with a jut of her chin.

Zoe scoffed. "God, no. I just needed something to stir as an excuse to be in here."

That elicited a chuckle from Claire. Looking down at the tiny watch on her wrist, she realized it was more than a little past midday. "Well I haven't eaten yet, so do you want to go and have lunch? I'll pay."

Zoe was out of her seat before she finished speaking. "Yes. Please. Take me away from this hell."

Claire smiled as they left, following her friend. "You too, huh?"

"Let me put it this way." Zoe said, heading for the elevators. "I'm about _this_ close to putting my high heel through someone's head."

"That'd be fun to watch."

"Oh, don't get me started."

As her fiery friend regaled her with horrific tales of the workplace, Claire felt herself relax. It was good to feel normal for a moment. A little while later, they were standing in line in a café not far from their office. Zoe had wound down a little bit after venting for a solid ten minutes, and making their way there.

"All right, what's going on?" She asked suddenly. "You've looked dead tired for the past couple days."

Claire froze for a second, caught off guard. "Oh. It's nothing, I've just been staying up late watching TV."

 _Technically not a lie_.

Zoe narrowed her eyes at her. "Claire, you're a terrible liar. It shows all over your face."

"It does not." Claire said indignantly. "I mean, I'm _not_ lying."

"Please." Zoe gave her a flat look.

Meeting her gaze, Claire tried her best to maintain her resolve. But she knew the look in her best friend's eyes. A look that said, _don't make me beat you in public to get the truth_. It was a rather intense form of concern. Sighing, and seeming to deflate a little, Claire looked away.

"Grande pumpkin spice for…" A male barista called loudly from the pickup counter, looking at the drink he was holding. "Cha-cha-cha?"

"Me!" Zoe said, raising her hand and stepping up to the counter. She took her drink and thanked the man before turning around coming back to Claire.

"Do you ever wonder why guy baristas aren't called 'baristos'?" Claire asked aloud, stalling for time.

"Stupid question, bad distraction." Raising an eyebrow, Zoe took a tentative sip from her drink. "Try again."

"Okay, okay! Can we at least wait for my–"

"Cappuccino for Claire?" The barista called.

Claire winced before retrieving her beverage, and returning.

"You were saying?" Zoe prompted as they found a vacant table in the corner.

"Well…" Claire began reluctantly. "Remember the other day, when I stayed late at work?"

.

.

In a dark hallway deep underground, two figures formed out of the shadows, wisps of smoky black clinging to them as they stepped into dim light. One was a tall woman with exceptional curves, long black hair cascading down her back, and an imperious expression adorning her face. The other was a man, somewhat shorter in stature, but equally imposing. His eyes were completely red, his skin pale. His features, though mostly covered by a cowl, were steadily neutral, almost bored. His eyes, however, betrayed a cold anger.

They approached the edge of a cone of light that shone in the center of a four-way intersection. Another man stood there, wearing tactical body armor, and holding an assault rifle, facing the opposite direction. Blackfire laid her hand on the side of the guard's head from behind, almost like a lover would, before slamming it into a nearby wall. The guard slumped to the ground silently, leaving a trail of blood on the wall. Kyd Wykkyd turned his head one way, and then the other, before silently pointing down the hall directly before the pair. With a flick of her hair, the woman set off in that direction, lifting off the ground and gliding forward. Her silent companion followed quickly, slinking across the ground behind her like a shadow. As they traveled down the hall, they passed alcoves built into the concrete on either side, a solid metal door at the center of each, lit by a single bulb.

"Here." The shadowy man eventually rasped, pulling off to the right into one of the alcoves. Stenciled in white on the metal door there was the serial code, _1752739-HE_. The woman alighted softly on the ground, and stepped forward to examine the door.

"Are you sure?" She asked. "It looks like all the other ones."

Her companion glowered at her, and she chuckled.

"Just checking." Blackfire smirked, and went back to inspecting the door.

It was an unremarkable, smooth slab of metal, set in place to keep people out rather than let them in. It had no handle or knob that she could see, and seemed thick. She rapped on it once with her knuckles, and received a dull _clunk_. Definitely sturdy. With her fingers, she felt along the edges of the door, and was surprised to find the door was completely flush with the concrete. Almost perfectly so. Next to the door was a glass panel, obviously some sort of biometric scanner to allow access. Pulling her arm back, she aimed a fist at the electronics.

A hand gripped her wrist suddenly, stopping her. She whirled on her partner in crime, fully ready to reduce him to ashes, but he let go of her quickly, and shook his head. Kyd Wykkyd swiftly stepped in between her and the door, running his obsidian claws down the center of it. A dark vapor seemed to cascade downward from the cut he had made, before the gash widened into a portal, allowing them free access to the room. Stepping aside, Kyd gestured for her to enter.

Blackfire's smirk widened. "Well, aren't you handy."

As she walked through the portal, she held her hand out and briefly let the back of her fingers lightly caress his unmarred cheek. "Thanks." She said. The shadow jumper instantly jerked his head away with a grunt, and she laughed at his irritation.

On the other side of the portal, the room was wide, and long, stretching off into the poorly lit distance. Rows and rows of shelves bumped the low ceiling, and on each of them were stacks of green military grade storage boxes. Blackfire walked over to the closest shelf, and observed the large coffin-like box that sat there. Slipping her fingertips into the crack between the lid and the box, she jerked it open, breaking the lock with minimal effort. She glanced inside, and then moved on to the next one, opening it in the same fashion.

Kyd watched her do this several times, slightly curious. Perhaps she was just verifying the contents of each box for what she was looking for, or something of that nature. He didn't particularly care, since this was all part of her _master plan_. He sighed, frustrated and impatient. Gizmo didn't need this much help when they were planning, his ideas were more action oriented. More concrete, with faster results. Kyd wondered, not for the first time, what exactly the benefit was for following this woman. He glanced up as Blackfire walked across his field of view, and grunted quietly in appreciation. Then again, Gizmo didn't have that backside.

There was a loud _bang_ as the alien warrior pulled a box down from the shelf, startling Kyd out of his reverie. She tore open the latches, and kicked open the top with a flourish.

"Oh yes," Blackfire turned to face him with a sinister grin. "These will do nicely."

.

.

Raven was extremely focused on her book. Or at least, she pretended to be. Eavesdropping was rude after all, but more importantly, she didn't want to be caught. It all started when she, enjoying her tea and a small pastry while she read, heard a few keywords from the table next to her. Normally she'd be able to block out and ignore the background noise, but there was simply no ignoring this. The words 'green man' and 'shape shifter' were like blaring air horns to Raven's ears, derailing her train of thought, and destroying her focus on the novel in her hands. Now her eyes repeatedly scanned the same line in the middle of her page as she tried not to lean towards the conversation.

" _Tore out their_ _tongues_?" One woman whispered, horrified.

"Yes, but only the one." The other woman responded tiredly. "He just beat up the other guy. They deserved worse. Bastards."

"Holy shit." The first woman breathed. " _Jesus_ , this is just a lot to process. Why _the hell_ didn't you call me?"

"And say what exactly? Honestly, I've just wanted to put it behind me. Get back to some semblance of normal."

"Oh, I'm sure that's easy, what with the jolly green jackass crashing on your couch."

"Yeah, there is that. It's actually not that bad. A lot like having a high-energy puppy in the house, only without the cleanup." The second woman chuckled halfheartedly.

"Hey! This is serious, I'm your _best friend_! You should be able to talk to me." The first woman said, raising her voice slightly.

"I know, I'm sorry. I just…" The second woman sighed. "I didn't… I don't know. I just want to forget about it."

The first woman sucked in a calming breath. "No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't be yelling at you. After everything that's happened to you, I'm sure you're trying your best. I can't imagine what you must be going through. God! How are you not freaking out?"

"I'm more numb than anything else. I feel like nothing's real. Like I'm going to wake up, and be… somewhere else."

"Jesus Christ, Claire. You have to tell someone."

"I'm telling you, aren't I?"

"I mean like the police, or your mom, or, I don't know, a _therapist_?"

The second woman, Claire, groaned slightly. "Oh God, my mom."

"Seriously, you haven't called her? That would be the first thing I'd do."

"And what should I say exactly? 'Hey mom, funniest thing happened the other day, I was almost raped! But don't worry, before anything _really_ bad happened I was saved by a complete stranger who is currently living in my apartment and may or may not be a psycho!' Yeah, I'm sure that'll go over well."

"I wouldn't exactly phrase it like that…"

There was a long silence between the two women, and Raven itched to look at them.

"So, this quote unquote savior of yours… he can change into animals? That's… unusual. What did you say his name was?" The first woman asked after a moment.

"Gar Logan. He also goes by Feral."

"Sounds appropriate. And he's really green? Like completely? What's that about?"

"I'm not sure, he hasn't told me."

"Interesting." The first woman hummed thoughtfully. "And you looked him up?"

"Duh. Not that it's helped much. He's not in any public superhero or government database, and all I can find are vague stories in the news."

"Huh… Can I meet him?"

"Uuuh…" The second woman hesitated. "Suuure, I guess…"

"It's fine if I can't, I'm just curious."

"No, it's fine, I just… he's weird. Really, really weird."

"Gotcha, I'll be fine."

"No, I mean, like, _crazy_ weird. Like, he might smell you, but just let it happen."

"Say what now?"

The two women spoke for a little while longer, and Raven managed to finally catch a glimpse by pretending to use her phone. One of them, the one named Claire who she recognized from the voice, was short and thin, with light brown hair, while the other was around the same height but a bit curvier, with black hair. They both wore comfortable business attire, and, curiously, Raven didn't sense anything supernatural or extraordinary about them. For all appearances it seemed that they were just regular human civilians. Raven closed the book in her hand, no longer even pretending to read.

They left when they finished their drinks, and the empath's eyes followed them apprehensively. She recognized the chance that had appeared before her, but it was too sudden. Too coincidental.

Leaning forward in her chair, Raven drummed her fingers on her knee. She wasn't ready. She didn't have a plan. There were too many things to consider, too many possibilities. Not to mention the incredibly heavy conversation she had just witnessed.

And yet, Raven found herself dodging through the afternoon foot traffic to catch up.

Locked onto their unique emotional signatures, it was easy for Raven to weave her way through the crowds in her clandestine chase. A short time later, she watched the two women enter a building, one she recognized as belonging to the city. So, they were government workers. Focusing for a moment, Raven felt the two women on the fifth or sixth floor, and it didn't seem like they were moving.

There were a couple options she had now. One, she could call and inform the other Titans she'd found a lead, but she hesitated to do that because Robin would likely interrogate the two women unnecessarily. Also, there'd likely be a fight if they actually found Feral, and she'd like to try speaking with him, at least at first. Two, she could go home and follow up tomorrow. But she didn't like that idea either, since she'd be worried about losing her clue, and too far away to act if something were to happen. Then there was option three; she could just wait, and follow the women. One of them had already confirmed that she knew where he was, and the workday was almost over, so it should be simple.

There were a lot of concerns with option three, not least of which was how alone and unprepared she was. However, it was the one that gave her the quickest results. On the other hand, Raven had minimal experience with stakeouts, because it was usually Robin who planned these things out. She chewed the inside of her lip slightly, thinking.

Should she tell the others? If her leader knew what she was doing, or thinking, he'd probably have a conniption. This improvised, half-formed plan was way out of character for Raven. She was normally much more meticulous. He'd tell her she was being reckless, and she would have to agree, but somehow it felt… right. Almost like one of her premonitions. This is what she was _meant_ to be doing. Cyborg would want to scan her head, make sure she didn't have a concussion or brain tumor. Though the two male Titans sometimes clashed with each other, they were often of the same mind, and they both seemed to agree that Feral was dangerous. And Starfire… Well, Starfire was sometimes hard to predict. Most of the time she would trust in her lover's leadership, but every once in a while, she would surprise everyone. The alien Princess had a different perspective on things, which sometimes gave her more insight into a problem, and was worth considering.

The empath shook her head. No, worrying about what the others would think was only making her anxious. And it wasn't like she had to engage Feral if she ended up tracking him down either. In fact, she wasn't going to approach him at all. She would observe and report. Easy.

.

.

Dumpster food, if one knows where to look for it, can be just as good as normal food, only with the added bonus of being free. Depending on the source, and time of day, Gar knew what quantity, and quality could be expected from a moment to moment basis. Generic chain restaurants and fast food joints were pretty standard, throwing away any returned orders and whatever wasn't eaten. Decent pickings could be found behind pizza places, and Italian restaurants around lunch. Diners were surprisingly great at supplying suitable meals to a wayward traveler in need. Chinese, and other Asiatic eateries were bit of a mixed bag, literally. Everything got thrown out together at the end of the night, turning into a cold congealed goop that was messy to deal with. Sushi was an absolute no go. But, if Gar had to pick one as the best, it had to be bakeries.

That's where he currently waited. A little more than a block away from Claire's apartment, sitting on a fire escape, kicking his legs, and idly blowing bubbles in the alley behind Benny's Flour Shop. He had been watching it the past couple nights, and knew that they would be closing soon. Any minute now an employee would come walking out the back door with bags of delicious, end of the day breads and pastries. If he was lucky, he might even score an unsquished Danish. That would be _sweeeeet_. Gar had to be careful though. Call it a hunch, but he didn't think Claire would appreciate how much time he spent rummaging through garbage, or the inevitable smell one gained from such activities. Therefore, swiftness was key.

There was a bang as the bakery's back door swung open, revealing a young man carrying three black garbage bags. When he turned to yell something back into the building, Gar stowed the bottle of bubbles and changed into a cat, slipping over the fire escape's edge to land in the shadows. He watched as the man turned back around, and started heading for the dumpster he was hiding next to. Immediately his enhanced senses told him that two of the bags were inedible refuse, but the third bag held something that teased his nose with the tantalizing scent of baked goods. Launching himself forward, he leapt from his hiding place and latched onto his prize with his front claws, yowling aggressively. The unfortunate young man screamed in surprise as he shook the bag. Seeing that the cat refused to be shaken, he hurled the bag away, sending Gar with it. The bag impacted heavily on the alley wall, but the changeling managed to safely detach, and land on all fours, facing back towards his unintended victim. Arching his back, he bristled his fur, and hissed in pretend anger.

"Mangy cat!" The startled employee cursed, raising his middle finger, and glaring. "Scared me half to death!"

Gar hissed again, shifting ever so slightly to make himself a little bit bigger. Surprise, confusion, and fear registered on the young man's face, and he stepped back. There was another shout from inside the building, momentarily distracting him, and the shape shifter took the opportunity to slip back into the shadows. His head whipping back around, the employee searched for the strange cat, eyes attempting to penetrate the dark corners of the alley. Finally, he seemed to relax, his posture becoming looser. With a snort, he lobbed the other two bags the rest of the way to the dumpster, then spun on his heel to hurry back in, ignoring the bag that he had tossed. Watching him go, Gar let himself shift back into his human form just as the door shut. He waited two beats, then turned with a smile towards his reward.

The Sudden Animal Encounter bit never failed.

Slicing through the thin plastic with his claws, he revealed his bounty. Just as his nose predicted, an assortment of delectable baked treasures tumbled from the split bag. Old, cold, but not yet stale, Gar pawed through for the good bits, a grin on his face as he tried not to drool. And what was that he spied? Dare he hope? _Aha, a chocolate croissant!_ He seized the flaky treat, and brought it close for inspection. Breathing in its scent, he grinned. Lukewarm, slightly squished, but whole and untainted. Perfect, as far as dumpster food goes. That's the real trick. Get the food _before_ it gets to the dumpster. It's not technically stealing if they were going to throw it out anyway, right?

Shrugging to himself, he opened his mouth wide and stuffed the whole thing in. Or tried to anyway. Big as it was, he only managed half, part of it sticking out with crumbs of it flaking off to stick to his face and shirt. Gar didn't even notice, nor would he have particularly cared. He was too busy stuffing his pockets with pastries as he awkwardly chewed his snack. There was no way he would be able to fit more than one in each pocket, but that was fine. These were only for him. Briefly, he had considered offering some to Claire, but then she would probably ask where he had gotten them, and he didn't really feel like coming up with a lie to appease her. It was much simpler just to eat what he could here, and then save a couple morsels to squirrel away in secret places around her apartment. Part of the croissant fell as he was finally able to bite down, but he miraculously caught it between his elbow and his stomach, juggling the other pastries as he did so. He swallowed, and then promptly started on the other half.

A few minutes later, and with one last chocolate frosted doughnut hooked on his finger, Gar stood from his crouch, and returned to the wall that the fire escape was attached to. It hung above him, somewhere around two stories high. Even so, Gar made the jump easily, his free hand grabbing the edge as it came within reach and pulling him up to where he had been sitting previously. Racing up the rickety metal stairs to the top, he looked around to gain his bearings, and then set off in the direction of Claire's apartment. Traveling over the rooftops was a lot quicker then down on the ground, so he closed in on her street within minutes. If he had his timing right then Claire would be on her way home now, and he might be able to sneak up and surprise her for a laugh.

Perched on the edge of one of the buildings across the street, Gar was scanning the pedestrians below when his sharp eyes picked out something peculiar on the street down below. He first recognized Claire, easily discernible because of her short stature. Next to her was someone he didn't recognize, but that didn't mean much, considering his face related memory problems. They seemed to be friends though, judging from their happy expressions. But that wasn't what was odd.

The odd thing was that they were being followed.

At least, that's what it looked like. Gar paused, his eyes flitting back and forth between Claire, and the person a few meters behind her. It was definitely suspicious. Something bothered him about the person, though he couldn't say what. Just a tingling at the back of his neck, but strong. Frowning, he stood. The stalker was focused completely on Claire, only barely acknowledging other people as they brushed past them in pursuit. Perhaps because he had some experience with this type of thing, but he didn't think they were doing a terribly good job of it. Their walking speed was constantly changing, they kept stepping behind things as if to hide. It was the strangest thing.

Luckily, Claire and her friend made it to her building without their follower catching up. For their part, the follower stayed outside, stepping into a side alley. From his angle now, Gar could tell that it was a woman, which he thought was curious. He'd had the vague idea that maybe one of the men who had attacked Claire before had come seeking revenge, but why would this woman be pursuing her? Bringing his hand up to scratch at his ear, he pondered it. After a few moments, he decided it didn't particularly matter to him. Transforming into a small bird, he flapped his way over to the alley where the mystery woman was hiding. Gar would drop in, and give her a good scare. That should be enough to warn her off, whoever she was.

Landing on the alley floor, he suppressed a snicker as he crept up behind her, considering which animal form to take. He was almost upon her when his nose twitched, and he breathed in a familiar and intoxicating scent.

.

 _Presently…_

"–Zinthos!"

Feral was sent flying to the end of the alley, soaring through the air to land squarely in an open dumpster. Her arm outstretched, body positioned in an offensive stance, it took a few seconds for Raven to realize what she had done.

"Ah." She breathed, her eyes wide.

This was not at all how she wanted to meet him. It was, in fact, _the opposite_ of how she wanted to meet him. Her immediate thought was to run and see if he was all right, but she checked the impulse. Raven had no idea what his response would be. Her knee-jerk reaction could have very well ruined any chance she had of talking with him peaceably. And that would just be _perfect_. She was alone in an alley in a part of the city she was only vaguely familiar with, had no backup, her friends didn't know where she was, and now she had attacked a shape shifter of unknown origin, and unknown intentions. Oh, and it was quickly getting darker. It was a bad situation, and Raven was sure it was only going to get worse. Silently berating herself for her uncharacteristically impulsive behavior, she resolved herself to forging through this folly. Raven didn't leave anything half done.

The empath inched closer, twisting the ring on her finger to restore her natural appearance. There was no point in the secret disguise if she had to use her powers while wearing it and he seemed to have seen through it anyway. A backward flick of her hand sealed the alley off with an illusionary barrier, preventing anyone from entering or even seeing the alley. If this came to a physical confrontation, she had to minimize the collateral damage, and prevent him from escaping like last time.

"Hello?" Raven called, stopping a few feet from the dumpster. She was still on guard, but made sure her stance was as nonthreatening as possible. If his powers were anything to judge by, he would be highly animalistic in nature, and aggressive body language would only put him on edge. "Are you all right?"

When no response had been made, Raven telekinetically tossed a piece of asphalt against the metal container. It made a dull _clang_ when it connected, but Feral still didn't answer. Worried that she may have hurt him more seriously than intended, she reached forward with her powers to check if he was alive. She was immediately struck by the brightness of his emotions. Excitement, curiosity, confusion, and strangely enough, self-reproach. Each feeling was like a shard from a mirror that reflected a colossal fire. Raven flinched, and shut it out before it overwhelmed her. Well, if nothing else, he was certainly alive.

 _So… Why isn't he doing anything?_

.

.

I'm trash, plain and simple. An actual garbage fire that somehow gained intelligence. It's almost been a literal year since I've updated this story, and while there's a variety of reasons why there hasn't been a new chapter until now, it's mostly because I just didn't know what to do. I have an overarching story, and a bunch of little ideas for certain chapters, but it's hard to nail anything down in the soup that I have for a brain. Instead of buckling down and getting to work however, I simply came up with more ideas and procrastinated. A lot. Almost all the time really. Because, as I've said before, I'm trash.

Anyways, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, and aren't too angry with me. Especially since this is another cliffhanger. Oh, I wanted to ask what everyone's opinion would be opinion on a minor Blackfire x Kyd Wykkyd thing. Not sure myself, really. I'm not going to do the mailbag this time, but I read every single one that's been posted so far, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Looking forward to what you have to say next! Happy holidays!

– Mocha


End file.
